Namikaze Naruto: The Peace Seeker
by The Omnipresent Sage
Summary: After Naruto ran away from Jiraiya, he ended up meeting with Uchiha Itachi. The meeting leads to student and teacher, a mature Naruto. His new dream is not to be Hokage, but to lead the shinobi world to peace. AU
1. Chapter 1

**I just had a notion to write a story in which Naruto desires peace. Therefore, I began to write the story, so here is the first chapter.**

**Oh and, I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 1: The Notion for a Change**

What was a friend, a brother? Was it someone you trusted with your life? Then if a friend was someone you trusted with your life, how is it that he/she could try to take away that. A life you trusted them to protect. The fact that Sasuke tried to take Naruto's life baffled him. He could not possibly conclude how his life had become in danger of fading away in the hands of Sasuke. Death could have claimed him in the hands of a person he proudly called his best friend, rival and a brother if you might add. It was quiet difficult to understand as to why Sasuke would try to kill him. True, he was trying to force the Uchiha back to Konoha, but that was his mission and something sort of a personal goal for him. Sasuke might not have been able to understand it then, but forcing him back to Konoha was good for him. Was revenge enough to kill your best friend? If Naruto was asked the question, he would have given a resounding no. Never in his wildest imaginations had he ever thought of killing his best friend for any reason, even if that friend tried to kill him. He would never dare to take someone's life, even the life of an enemy.

Well…he had that mentality before the attempt to his life by Sasuke. Now, he did not know what to think, which notion was best to believe, which path to take.

All his life, Naruto had endured pain, hatred and loneliness, things that could break any man. His endurance and kind heart showed just how strong he was, mentally. There is a breaking point that all people have. This was his breaking point, a point of impasse. His mind was nothing but a crumbling skyscraper. Negative and positive had joined and become one, each lost of their path. Limit a border that he had never thought that he would ever reach at his young age. However, here he was, his limit reached. His mind could not function to its level best, the best way to program it so it could compute better was rebooting. Perhaps if he reboots, he could see what the world offered him.

He certainly could not continue on the path that he had been taking after it had nearly cost him his valuable life. Only a fool would continue on such path.

Naruto lay inside the hospital bed, his entire body wrapped up with bandages. This was the first time that Naruto was been admitted to the hospital and not think of running away. Mostly his attempts to run away had proven to be a success. Today, he had no thoughts of an escape plan; he had no sudden notion to escape. It was better for him to just lie down and dwell on his thoughts. There was nothing or anyone that would be waiting for him when he returned to his apartment. His thoughts mattered the most than anything else now. He could care less about anything, for now he just wanted to solve the puzzle inside of his head. His eyes stared at the cold white ceiling unblinking. His injuries were healed, yet he felt no need to leave the hospital. It was almost like he was chained to his bed yet he felt no discomfort.

He had been lying on the bed ever since Kakashi brought him back to the village. After his battle with Sasuke, he had multiple wounds and had used more of the Kyuubi's chakra than his body could handle. Though his body had become familiar with using the Kyuubi's chakra, there was still a limit to what it could tolerate. During his battle with Sasuke, he had used more than his body could handle. Perhaps it had been because he had been angry with Sasuke for trying to kill him; perhaps he did because he just wanted to prove to Sasuke that he was more than just a loud mouth knucklehead. Regardless of his thinking then, the results had been what brought him to the hospital.

When Kakashi brought him to the hospital, he had been unconscious at the time. After the battle with Sasuke that ended up with him defeating Sasuke, he had lost consciousness. He had used three-tails worth of the Kyuubi's chakra. Kakashi arrived at the Valley of the End-where the battle had taken place-after the battle. Sasuke lost consciousness before Naruto. Neither of their health was at risk though. Their wounds were nothing that Tsunade could not heal.

The mission to retrieve Sasuke had been a success but he felt as though something a part of him was missing. Naruto felt as though he had lost a part of at the Valley of the End. That something he had lost was something that had made him smile every day.

The doors to his room opened. Naruto did shift eyes to see who it was. He did not care. Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage walked into the room.

''You are very lucky brat,'' Tsunade said, ''Had it not been for your 'friend,' you would have died from one of those wounds you received to your chest,'' She continued without taking note of Naruto's expression or the fact that he was not listening to her. ''However, using the Kyuubi's chakra as you did was very irresponsible for you. Who knows what could have happened? I know you wanted to bring Sasuke back, but using that much of the Kyuubi's chakra when your body is not accustomed to it might have proved to be hazardous to your health. The Kyuubi might have even tried to take over your body. Moreover, that Uchiha brat is not it.'' Tsunade ranted out.

No comment

Tsunade thought he was just at a loss of words, thus she spoke again, ''You should be happy that you completed your mission though.'' She said with a small smile, ''But if you do something so reckless again I will put you in here for a month and after that I will make you do D-rank missions for a year. Do you understand me Naruto?'' Tsunade threatened in a seriously. She knew how well Naruto hated the hospital. He hated even just to step inside the building itself. He also hated doing D-rank missions as he was 'too cool and awesome' for it. 'Someone of his skills and greatness is over-ranked to do D-ranked missions.' 'Yeh, right' Tsunade thought with a snort.

No comment

Naruto's eyes continued to stare at the white cold ceiling. He was not listening to what Tsunade was saying. He did not care. He had a lot to deal with in his thoughts. He had a puzzle to solve.

A tick mark formed on Tsunade's forehead, ''Are you listening to me brat?'' Tsunade asked just a second away from losing her temper. She hated it when Naruto did not listen to her when she spoke. It made her feel like an idiot because she was speaking to herself.

Still, Naruto said nothing making Tsunade lose her calm as another tick grew on her forehead. She clenched her fists and began to take giant footsteps towards Naruto. She was going to beat some sense into him. Even if she had to break a few bones, she would do it as long as it got her the results she needed. She could always heal him anytime she wanted. She was the best medic in all the elemental nations after all.

Tsunade came into a complete halt as soon as she saw the look on Naruto. She had never seen him like this before. He was not even looking at her. She could conclude that by his look, he had yet to acknowledge her presence. His eyes that used to be full of life and happiness had none of that. They did not show much in terms of emotions but she could see that deep inside those deep blues. She could perfectly see, a child who has seen more than he should at his age, a child who has carried a yoke too heavy for him. Tsunade could see a child that was tired, tired of everything, a confused child. Never had she seen Naruto like this. Nevertheless, she supposes it was understandable considering what he has gone through in his young life. If being hated by all the villagers for something he had no control over was not enough, Sasuke added to his woes by piercing his chest twice with an A-rank jutsu, designed for the sole purpose of killing. Even she could never be the same if someone she considered as a brother tried to kill her, not once but twice.

Given the situation at hand, Tsunade had no way of helping Naruto. He was close to her as her son. However, even with their relationship, she could not help him. She had no way of coping with difficult situations. When her heart was burdened with issues, her way of coping was getting drunk. Getting drunk was not something she could advise Naruto to do. Something that involved sake was out of the question and unfortunately, sake was her stress reliever.

''You are free to go. All your injuries have been healed, there is no need to keep you here.'' Tsunade said in a low tone. She spun around slowly and left Naruto alone. She just hoped that Jiraiya who had been 'listening' could be of help to Naruto.

Naruto said nothing as a sign that he acknowledged her words. In truth, he did hear her. He just had many thoughts that disarmed him of the ability to speak.

Jiraiya appeared out of nowhere and sat comfortably at the window just as Tsunade had left Naruto alone. Still Naruto did not react to Jiraiya's presence. His eyes just continued competing in a stare contest with the ceiling. Status of the competition-so far has been a stalemate.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto sadly. It pained the self-proclaimed super pervert to see Naruto in a way he was. Ever since he had come to know the boy, he had always seen him smiling despite everything that he faced daily. Naruto was just a child, like any child, he needed love and comfort from family. To get through the hard times he needed his parents to be there for him for emotional support.

Like Tsunade, Jiraiya had no way of trying to make Naruto smile. If he was burdened by problems, he went away to do his 'research,' to be more precise, peeping. It was his way to cope with the hardships of the life as a shinobi. When one is a ninja he/she experiences a lot of pain, most commonly because of the loss of loved ones. Being a shinobi was a lot more burdening that most people thought. People take it lightly, but the decisions that shinobi have to make may drive a non-shinobi insane due to their weight. Even some shinobi lose their sanity because of the weight of the choices they have to make.

Nevertheless, unlike Tsunade, Jiraiya was willing to try something. He might not be best suited for this kind of situations, but he had lived many years and experienced many things to learn a few things or two. He had a way with words given his age.

''If you want to talk to someone you know I am here for you Naruto.'' Jiraiya said after a long deliberation in his head.

Naruto remained as he was, his eyes never leaving the ceiling

Jiraiya sighed, that was not the way to start the conversation. He had been listening when Tsunade spoke to Naruto. Tsunade had spoken, but Naruto did not respond. He just stared at the ceiling like a cold frozen lifeless corpse. 'If he did not respond to Tsunade, what made me think that he would speak to me?' Jiraiya thought with a sigh.

''Naruto, I know it must be hard for you accepting that Sasuke tried to kill you,'' Jiraiya said his eyes leaving the blond, ''But you have to accept it. Sasuke tried to kill you and it was not because he was not thinking straight or under the influence of the cursed seal like some people might say.'' He said being honest with Naruto. It might be harsh but it was the truth and for Naruto to move on, he had to accept it. ''Sasuke was never your friend to begin with. Someone like him did not even deserve your friendship. You should just forget about him and focus on your own life.'' Jiraiya advised Naruto calmly.

Naruto remained as he was. He heard Jiraiya. Nothing Jiraiya had said had yet to come across his mind.

Jiraiya knew that Naruto was hearing despite his lack of answers, "Do not make the same mistake twice and let Sasuke in again. He will surely try to kill you again, and next time he might succeed.'' Jiraiya warned looking back at Naruto, "Do not let this get to you though. You still have many friends and your entire life ahead of you.''

After a few seconds of silence, Jiraiya spoke again, ''No matter what Sasuke says to you. Do not listen to him, you did the right thing forcing back to the village and it was your mission to do so.'' Jiraiya really hoped that Naruto was taking his words to heart. Sasuke was not a mentally stable person. He was out of control and needed real help to deal with some major issues that run rampant within his head. If Naruto did try to befriend Sasuke again, the Uchiha was surely going to try to kill Naruto again given the chance.

Jiraiya smiled proudly as a thought sneaked into his head, ''I am proud of you as my apprentice for beating the Uchiha. It does not matter if you used the Kyuubi's chakra or not, what matters is that you...'' Jiraiya trailed off upon seeing Naruto move.

Naruto slowly made his way out of the bed. Jiraiya just watched him curiously. Naruto walked out of the room without even sparing Jiraiya a glance.

Jiraiya stared at the door with a single thought running through his head, 'Did he just use the door?' He thought to himself. From what he had seen so far and what he heard, Naruto had never, not even once used the two to leave the hospital. Perhaps it was because he usually ran away. Nevertheless, even when he was given permission to go, he never used the door. It was always the window for Naruto.

'This is serious, I must go see hime.' Jiraiya thought disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto stepped out of the hospital room. Jiraiya spoke, he heard him. It did not change his train of thoughts. His thoughts had been continuing as they had been before Jiraiya showed up. Nothing Jiraiya had said made any difference to his train of thoughts. It was as if the sannin never spoke to begin with. Perhaps it was just because he just wanted to listen to his thoughts alone. Maybe it was because he was tired of doing what people always told him to do and he just wanted to try things his own way. He just wanted to compute things on his own, without anyone influencing him. Over the past few years, he always had the Sandaime, Iruka and Kakashi-sensei to help him deal with some issues. The Sandaime and Iruka were a big part of his decision-making. The life changing decisions he to make were under the influence of what the Sandaime or Iruka have had to say to him.

Now he just wanted to deal with things himself

Naruto's footsteps came into a complete halt. His eyes narrowed at the door on his right. It was open and he could clearly see the occupant of the room.

Uchiha Sasuke

Sasuke glared at Naruto murderously. If looks could kill, Naruto would have been on the floor dead by the fierce glare Sasuke went him. The glare was fierce enough to send chills on anyone's spine it was directed. Unlucky for Sasuke, Naruto just did not care. Sasuke was radiating a murderous aura upon seeing Naruto.

He had never so much hatred towards a person. He had always hated Itachi more than anything. He devoted his life to kill Itachi, because he hated what his brother had done. He hated Itachi for killing their parents. Even the mention of the man's name was enough to put him on the edge. His hatred towards Itachi burned inside his heart; it was alive and fed on his emotions. However, the hatred he felt for Naruto did not compare with the hatred he felt for Itachi. It was most infuriating because he could not move a muscle to do something to the blond. His body was wounded, and his chakra was sealed, if that was not enough, he was chained to his bed.

Anger boiled within him creating illusionary steam blowing out of his nose and ears. Sasuke was beyond angry. Naruto was the reason his chakra was sealed, he was the reason he was chained to the bed, he was the reason there were ANBU's guarding him. The ANBU did not even blink while they watched him. They did not want to the Uchiha to escape. Given the chance, Sasuke would surely try to defect again. He had done it once he could do it again.

Naruto had stood in his way for power, his way for revenge. It was unforgivable in the eyes of Uchiha Sasuke. He could not forgive Naruto for standing in the way of the one thing that meant life and death to him. He had thought Naruto would be able to understand since he knew loneliness. In some sense Naruto was like to him, so he thought Naruto would be able to understand what revenge meant to him. However, he was wrong. The dobe did not understand him at all. Sasuke had cursed himself for thinking that Naruto would understand him. Naruto never had any parents to begin with; he never had anyone taken away from him. Naruto did not have his brother kill their parents just because he wanted to test his strength. Naruto was unlike him, they could never be alike.

He was not stark within Konoha, hawks watching him 24/7. Naruto was to blame for all this

Sasuke felt his pride damned, degraded by the fact that Naruto had achieved the feat of stopping him from defecting by defeating him. Naruto, the dead last of their academy class had defeated him, Uchiha Sasuke, brother to Uchiha Itachi and a genius on his own right. Naruto had achieved that feat even when he was using the power Orochimaru gave him. Even his Sharingan had fully matured and yet he was unable to defeat Naruto. Naruto had used some orange-reddish chakra to defeat him, but that did not matter. A defeat was a defeat regardless of how it came. Naruto had done something never in his life had he thought the idiot would be able to do. It baffled him how an idiot, loud mouth knucklehead like Naruto could defeat him, an Uchiha. He was more skilled than the idiot, he was special, and he had a bloodline superior to any. Naruto had none, he was not even skilled and yet he defeated him.

The fact that Naruto defeated him was unacceptable.

Bubbles of anger danced in the inside of his mouth, disarming of the ability to utter words of hatred. He wanted to yell at the blond, rip him to shreds with his bare heads. The fact that the blond was standing in the passageway, eyes narrowed at him without care enticed him to murder the blond with his eyes and thoughts.

Naruto engaged the gears and began to move forward. He did not say a word to Sasuke as he felt. The fact made Sasuke angrier than he had been.

Sakura walked out of Sasuke's room seeing that Sasuke was glaring at someone. She saw Naruto walking away, ''Naruto wait up!'' She called out.

Naruto did not stop to listen to what she had to say.

Sakura increased her pace and walked up to Naruto. Naruto was walking at a rather comfortable pace.

''I heard from Tsunade-sama that Sasuke-kun tried to kill you.'' Sakura said walking beside Naruto.

"I am sure he did not mean to. Sasuke-kun would never do something like that if he were thinking straight. He was not thinking straight,'' Sakura said believing in her own words. She did not believe that Sasuke could try to kill Naruto when he was thinking straight. Naruto was his teammate they were like family. Family did not try to kill each other. Although she could never admit it to anyone, Naruto was close to Sasuke than she was.

''Well anyway I just wanted to thank you for keeping your promise to bring Sasuke-kun.'' Sakura said with a genuine smile as she came to a halt.

Naruto just walked away without saying a thing, not a damn thing

Sakura stood still watching naruto with a confused look spreading across her face.

Hokage's office

Like any other day, Jiraiya burst through Tsunade's office through the window. Tsunade was used to Jiraiya's 'unique' way of entering her office, but sometimes it just annoyed her. She could not understand why he would choose to use the window when the door existed. No matter how many times she has told the perverted sannin to use the door, he continues to use the window. Even if she closes the window, he breaks it just so he could enter. It was often disturbing because normally she would be taking a nap. When Jiraiya budges in the office through the window, he disturbs her naptime. She could also be doing something private, that she does not want anybody to see. Even if she locks the door, she cannot keep Jiraiya out given that he never uses the door.

Tsunade sighed tiredly. Despite being annoyed by Jiraiya's behavior, there was an important issue they had to deal with, ''How did it go?'' She asked leaning back to her chair. She would need to be leaning on something due to the weight of the subject at hand.

Jiraiya looked at the village of Konohagakure no Sato through the window. His eyes went to Tsunade, ''Still the same as you left him.'' He replied with a frown. He did not like the mental state of his student.

Tsunade nodded, ''How bad do you think it is?'' She asked in a low tone.

''Sasuke's attempt on his life hit him hard. I never thought I would see him like this. Sasuke must have meant a lot to him and Naruto must have trusted him. With Sasuke's attempt on his life, he betrayed his trust.'' Jiraiya replied his eyes going back to the streets of Konoha. Having someone, you trusted betray you was one thing that was heartbreaking, even for him. However, he was experienced and it would not affect him as much it would to Naruto given that he was still just a child.

''Do you think he will be okay Jiraiya? I can't bear to see him like that.'' Tsunade said sadly. As any mother, she could not handle seeing Naruto in the condition he was. She wanted to see him smile and laugh, call her ba-chan, do all the annoying things he did. She could contend with that, but what had become of Naruto due to Sasuke's actions, she could not contend with.

''Don't worry hime he will be fine, he just needs time to deal with all the issues and he will be back to his happy self again.'' Jiraiya said trying to sooth Tsunade's worries. Despite saying it like he believed Naruto would return to normal, something inside of him was telling him otherwise.

''I hope he does go back to his usual self soon.'' Tsunade stated with a worried look on her face.

Jiraiya nodded, ''We have to do something about Naruto and Sasuke. They can't be allowed to be near each other or another battle might be ignited and if that happens someone might die given both their current mindset.'' Jiraiya said looking at Tsunade. If they two were not separated and Sasuke was outside the hospital, he would surely try to get back at Naruto for standing in his way of revenge. Given what had happened, Naruto would certainly not wait for Sasuke try to kill him again.

The mention of Sasuke's name made the Godaime Hokage's blood boil. She never did like the Uchiha brat. Moreover, for him to attempt to kill Naruto was pushing her buttons, ''That brat,'' Tsunade said under her breath, ''If it went for the damn council fools I would have ripped his body to pieces the moment Kakashi brought him back along with Naruto.'' Tsunade said with clenched fists. He really wishes she could go into the hospital and beat up the Uchiha until he was nothing but a bag of meat.

''Don't think of things like that hime...you might end up doing it and you know that it won't end well.'' Jiraiya stated. He knew from experience about Tsunade's temper. If she kept herself in the company of such thoughts and Sasuke were to come in her office, she would certainly break every bone in his body.

Tsunade sent Jiraiya a narrowed look. She knew he was right and she hated it when the pervert was right. Thinking those thoughts about the Uchiha brat was surely not going to do her any good or Naruto. The council to be precise-the elders-would certainly be pissed if she did something to their precious Uchiha. She was certain that the elders did not actually care for the boy but rather his bloodline, the Sharingan. That was what made them tolerate the Uchiha's spoiled behavior. Sasuke was needed for the restoration of the Uchiha clan, which was now near extinct.

''I guess you are right,'' Tsunade conceded with a tired voice.

''I have thought of something that will help Naruto clear his thoughts and make him stronger.'' The moment those words left Jiraiya's mouth, Tsunade had already given the perverted sannin her full attention. ''You are aware that the Akatsuki is after Naruto for the Kyuubi. Naruto can be captured at any time if he does not have someone capable of fighting off S-rank criminals.'' Jiraiya paused for a moment. Tsunade nodded in understanding of Jiraiya's words. ''Naruto also needs to train so that he can be able to protect himself against the Akatsuki.''

''What are you suggesting Jiraiya?'' Tsunade asked. She did have a guess as to what her former teammate was trying to say.

''I want to take Naruto on a three-year training trip. I will train him so that he can be able to protect himself against his enemies, whist also protecting him the Akatsuki,'' Jiraiya said, ''And fresh air from outside of the village will be good for Naruto given his current state of mind. Going into a place that he is not familiar with will give him the best atmosphere to think clearly.'' Jiraiya added selling the idea to Tsunade.

Tsunade took a thoughtful look on her face as she dissected Jiraiya's words. She could trust Jiraiya with Naruto's safety. The pervert was the strongest in the village; he could handle S-rank criminals on his own. Naruto needed the training; his current skills were quite pathetic if she were to be honest. Without the Rasengan and the Kage bunshin, Naruto had nothing. Kakashi never trained the boy, something she needed to discuss with the jounin when she does see him. Getting out of the village would definitely be the best option for Naruto. New faces and environment will certainly give the blond new experiences different from the village.

However, there was another thing that could put all that into jeopardy.

Jiraiya was often irresponsible. He could not be trusted to always keep an eye on Naruto. He was prone to leave the blond and go away to do his 'research.'

''You have to promise me first that you won't leave Naruto alone to peep.'' Tsunade stated looking at Jiraiya with a serious expression on her face.

''Hime, I have told you many times that it's not peeping, it is called doing 'research.'' Jiraiya said 'correcting' Tsunade on her error for calling his precious research peeping.

''If you can't promise me that, then you can't take Naruto. I can always have Kakashi and some trusted ANBU train him here inside the village.'' Tsunade said with a hidden smirk. That was always an option, but Kakashi had to be forced to do it given that he had been Naruto's sensei for months and he never taught him anything other than tree walking exercise.

''Fine, I won't leave him alone to do my research.'' Jiraiya said in a defeated tone.

Tsunade smiled, though she knew Jiraiya would never stop peeping. He had been doing it as far she could remember her younger days. ''When do you plan on leaving?''

''Two days.'' Jiraiya replied

''I will get the paperwork signed. I just hope that you don't plan to turn him into a pervert like you.'' Tsunade finished with a glare leveled at the sannin.

Jiraiya smiled nervously. It had crossed his mind and he would never miss the chance if it came.

Before Jiraiya could replay, the doors to the office opened. Shizune walked into the office carrying a load of papers. Tsunade immediately glared at the stack on papers Shizune was holding. ''Tsunade-sama, the elders are calling for you at the council chambers for a council meeting.'' Shizune said placing the heavy load on top of Tsunade's desk.

''Who called the meeting?'' Tsunade asked taking her eyes off the paperwork.

''I think it was the elders. The clan heads are already present at the chambers. You should head there now.''

Tsunade sighed getting up from her chair, ''Let's go Jiraiya and see what those old fools want.'' Tsunade commanded.

Council chambers

''Who called this meeting?'' The Godaime Hokage demanded as she burst into the chambers where the shinobi council and the elders waited for her. Hiashi Hyuuga, head clan of the Hyuuga clan; Nara Shikaku, head clan of the Nara clan and the jounin commander; Inuzuka Tsume, matriarch of the Inuzuka clan; Inoichi Yamanaka, head clan of the Yamanaka clan; Chouza Akimichi, head clan of the Akimichi clan. Aburame Shibi, head clan of the Aburame clan; Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane and Shimura Danzou were there the retired shinobi. This entire people including the Hokage formed the shinobi council. Civilian council members were not invited given that they had no say in shinobi matters.

Tsunade took her steps and sat at her seat with Jiraiya closely behind her. Nobody would tell him to leave the council chambers even when he was not a member. He was the strongest in the village, and most important a sannin. That gave him privileges that other shinobi did not have.

''So?'' Tsunade barked narrowing her eyes around the table to look at each council member. The clan heads shifted their eyes towards the elders prompting Koharu to speak up.

''Tsunade, it was us who called this meeting.'' She said.

''How many times have I told you to adress me with proper respect?'' Tsunade asked rhetorically while glaring daggers at the retired ninja. ''I am the Godaime Hokage, and you will address me Tsunade-sama or Hokage-sama or I will have you thrown out of the council, is that understood?'' Tsunade said leaking a bit of her killing intent directed at Koharu to get her point through.

''You can't do that.'' Koharu stated in defiance. Not even the hailed Yondaime Hokage could get them out of the council no matter how many times he wished he could. Tsunade was not smart as Minato Namikaze, thus where Minato failed she was bound to fail.

''Yes I can and I will if you continue to show me that blatant lack of respect!'' Tsunade stated in a firm tone making it clear and believable that she could get rid of the elder from the council.

''Very well, Hokage-sama.'' Koharu said not directly looking at Tsunade. 'The younger generation has lost respect to their elders' Koharu thought. Tsunade was inexperienced and needed guidance from her and the other elders to lead the village to success...well that was according to her own belief.

''Good, so why did you call us here?'' Tsunade asked pleased that she got the foolish old council member under control.

Danzou narrowed his eye slightly without anyone noticing. If one could look at him on the outside one would think that the old war walk was not even thinking of anything. His expression was blank...as always, body language showing nothing...as always. Deep inside, he was thinking and plotting for his next move...but first thing first. Tsunade was developing a backbone, with the way she was handling things now it would not be easy to manipulate her. Nevertheless, Tsunade was Tsunade, 'she is bound to make careless mistakes due to her short temper and the emotions that hinder her from doing her job' Danzou thought with an inward smirk.

''We called this meeting to discuss Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.'' Homura stated looking at everyone within the chambers.

Tsunade sighed with a grim expression spreading across her face. She could not be cheerful about the subject of the meeting. The meeting was bound give her more work to do and more matters to solve.

''As you are all aware Uchiha Sasuke, has recently attempted to flee from the village, but thankfully he was brought back to the village.'' Homura continued.

''Our children almost died trying to bring back and I heard he almost succeeded in killing his best friend.'' Tsume commented. She could care less about the Uchiha. Her son, Kiba was at the hospital in a critical condition because of him.

Her words earned a few nods from clan heads, which where blissfully ignored by Homura as he continued, ''We must do something about him or he will try to leave the village again given the chance. As you all know we cannot afford to lose the Sharingan.'' He said making it clear that what was important in Sasuke was not the boy himself but his doujutsu and the fact that he was the only one present that could produce more Sharingans.

''I suggest we lock him up in a cell. A prison sentence is what he deserves for trying to betray the village and join a traitor who led an invasion against us.'' Hiashi stated with an impassive expression on his face. His nephew was lying in the hospital at ICU because of Sasuke. He had nothing against the Uchiha but his actions had led to his nephews' condition. It was also the right punishment for him given that he tried to betray the village.

Shikaku nodded, ''I agree with Hiashi, Sasuke's attempt to betray the village could be counted as treason, given that he was going to join Orochimaru, an S-rank criminal responsible for the death of the Sandaime and the invasion we are still recovering from.'' Shikaku stated.

''If his actions are seen as treason then execution awaits him.'' Inoichi commented.

Tsunade and Jiraiya had smirks on their faces. They liked what the head clans where saying. Neither of them would have any problems with having Sasuke charged for treason. What the clan heads were saying was making Tsunade cheerful.

''We cannot afford to take such extreme measures against the boy. It is indeed true that he tried to betray the village but that was under the influence and manipulation of Orochimaru. As Homura has said, we cannot afford to lose the Sharingan. We need the Sharingan to strengthen our military power.'' Koharu objected. The Sharingan was a powerful weapon that they cannot afford to lose if they want to remain as the strongest hidden village in the elemental nations.

''What do you suggest?'' Tsunade asked for the sake of it.

''I suggest a more lenient punishment. We should lock him up in a cell for six months and then let him out then train him to get the power he needs so that he does not attempt to leave the village again. We all know that he attempted to leave the village for the sake of power.'' Koharu stated with a calm look on her face.

''No, we cannot treat the brat like a spoiled brat. Sasuke is no different from any other shinobi of the village, thus he cannot be treated differently. The favorable treatment is what turned him into what he is right now.'' Tsunade stated firmly.

''I agree with hime, we cannot allow him to think that he can get away with anything. An appropriate punishment has to be sanctioned. Though I agree with you on one point, the Sharingan is indeed a powerful weapon we cannot afford to lose.'' Jiraiya spoke for the first since arriving at the chambers.

Danzo smiled inwardly, Jiraiya had just given him an opportunity to play his card. Danzou cleared his throat getting the attention of the rest of the council, ''I have a suggestion that will please everyone.'' He stated getting everyone to be interested to what he had to say. They all knew the old war hawk was always scheming something. It was obvious that the old war hawk was prepared for this. It was certainly interesting to see what he had cooked up this time.

''Give the Uchiha to me. I can train him and give him the power he desires, and in return I will turn him into a perfect weapon for Konoha that will never betray us.'' Danzou said with a hidden smirk. His face remained blank, as it had been as if he did not say a thing. While inside he was planning to turn the Uchiha into a perfect weapon for himself.

'And a perfect weapon for yourself' most of the council members thought eyes looking at Danzou.

Tsunade thought for a moment, ''That could work. I have no doubt that you can turn him into weapon for Konoha…but like all shinobi you train, they turn out to be loyal to you to the end.'' Tsunade commented not hiding the fact that she knew that his ROOT was still active. The ROOT where highly trained and could be useful in the future which was why she had not done anything against it.

''But having Sasuke locked up at your ROOT bases will not give him a chance to escape.'' It was a risky move to allow Danzou to have Sasuke but it was the best given the current situation. It will also leave her without to deal with Sasuke.

''My training will also teach the boy proper manners.'' Danzou added trying to make things to his favor.

''If there are no objections, I will allow Danzou to train Sasuke.'' Tsunade said looking around the table to see if the was an objection.

The clan heads said nothing. If Tsunade was allowing Danzou to have Sasuke, she must have a plan cooked up. Homura and Koharu had no objections.

Seeing no objections Tsunade spoke again, ''I will allow you to have Sasuke under one condition.''

Danzou narrowed his eyes at Tsunade

''You are only training Sasuke to become strong and loyal to the village. You will return him under my control after you have finished training him and you will give me monthly reports about his progress.'' Tsunade stated firmly.

Danzou nodded, he was fine with the conditions. He had expected her to say something like that. He would have been a fool to think that Tsunade would leave him unchecked and allow Sasuke to work for his ROOT. ''Good, I think that's all for now.'' Tsunade stated.

''Hokage-sama,'' Koharu said, ''There is another issue that needs to be discussed.''

''Which is?'' Tsunade asked impatiently.

''The Kyuubi.'' Danzou replied he desired to have the Kyuubi under his control. With Sasuke and the Kyuubi under his control, he would be unstoppable. He could picture himself sitting at the Hokage's seat with his weapons kneeling beside him.

''You mean Naruto, right?'' Tsunade said dangerously looking at Danzou. Danzou nodded in return.

''There issue with Naruto has already been solved, so there is no need to discuss it.'' Tsunade stated dismissively.

''Will you tell us what you have discussed and with whom?'' Danzou asked.

''I have discussed Naruto with Jiraiya. Naruto will leave with Jiraiya for a three-year training trip.'' Tsunade responded.

''That is a logical solution; Jiraiya-sama is the strongest and the only one capable of protecting Naruto. The training trip will help Naruto become strong so he can be able to protect himself in the future.'' Shikaku commented.

Tsunade nodded, ''There will be no other thing to be discussed about Naruto. I have made a choice and it will not be changed.'' Tsunade stated firmly with a fierce glare daring anyone-Danzou-to say otherwise. ''Good, this meeting is over, you are all dismissed!'' Tsunade said dismissing everyone.

Danzou left the chamber with a calm look on his face. Despite not being able to get the Kyuubi, but he would wait. He had not come this far because he was impatient. Patience was virtue he knew it. He would get as hands on the Kyuubi...or so he thought.

''That went well that I anticipated, and you are handling the elders way better than sensei did.'' Jiraiya commented after everyone had left the chambers aside from him and Tsunade.

''Yes it did.'' Tsunade said with a small smile, ''That is because I am unlike sensei. Sensei cared too much about what they thought and allowed them to make some decisions for him.'' Tsunade stated.

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. The Sandaime had allowed the old fools to dictate most things under his watch. He even allowed Danzou to do as he pleased. ''I'm surprised that you allowed Danzou to train Sasuke knowing that he might try to make the brat loyal to him.'' Jiraiya said, ''Are you sure that was a good decision?''

''It was a risky move, but I doubt that even Danzou will succeed in making the brat his personal weapon. He might get the brat to stay in the village, but controlling him. I doubt that will happen.'' Tsunade said not knowing how right she was.

The following day

Naruto sat alone at the Hokage's monument overlooking the village. His eyes seemed like they were looking past the village of Konohagakure no Sato. His eyes were not looking at Konoha, but past the village, himself. He was looking at himself through the village. A mirror of himself reflected at the end of the village showed a rather gloomy image of him, one that was like an alien that would scare those that knew him. It was not every day that the happiest person in Konoha could turn out sad. It was something that would surprise even those that hated him. People expect to see Naruto grinning from left to right. Even though it was often called annoying, it was what people expected from Naruto. Anything less than that was shocking.

Naruto had not seen any of his friends that were at the hospital. He did not even go to get some ramen. The ramen stand was the place he always went after leaving the hospital. However, Naruto was not functioning as he normally did. His ways were lost, some forgotten some he just did not care.

Kakashi appeared via shunshine and stood beside Naruto. He did not have his usual orange book within his hands. Kakashi lacked even his usual eye smile. His right eye seemed unfocused; one could very well tell that the jounin was not having the best of days. The jounin looked as if he had been crying and had not slept in a while.

Kakashi had been having an emotional turmoil. The emotional turmoil was breaking him because he felt guilty to what happened to Naruto. He was the one to have taught Sasuke the jutsu he used on Naruto. The jutsu was created for killing. He never thought that Sasuke would use his signature jutsu on a teammate, especially Naruto. If Naruto had been killed, he could have as well committed suicide, as he would not have been able to live with himself. Naruto meant more to him than Sasuke or anyone that was alive. He might not have taken the time to train the blond, but that did not mean that he did not care for the blond. Naruto might not know it, but he was like his little brother, given that Naruto's father was his sensei and had been like a father to him. Naruto's father had even taught him his prized jutsu, the Rasengan. It was just a sign of how close he really was to Naruto's father. The fact that Naruto did not know his father did not ease his turmoil's.

Naruto eyes stayed on the reflection of his self as if he did not acknowledge Kakashi's presence. That man was an emotional wreck, he had his own problems to deal with, and he did not need to add to what he already had.

''Naruto,'' Kakashi said bringing out all the confidence he could so that he would be able to say what he wanted to say, ''I'm sorry for what Sasuke did to you. I should have never taught him that jutsu. It is my fault for teaching him, I just never thought he would use it on you.'' Kakashi said sadness, guilt and regret dripping from the tone of his voice.

Naruto stood and turned around to face Kakashi. Kakashi could clearly see that he was looking past him.

''Guilt, regret, have none of that.'' Naruto said in a monotone voice before walking away.

The words danced inside Kakashi's head. He could not understand what Naruto meant by his words. Was Naruto telling not to regret teaching Sasuke Chidori? Was he saying that he should not feel guilty for Sasuke's actions? If that was it, did Naruto not find him guilty for Sasuke's actions? Was Naruto telling him to be sad for what Sasuke did to him? All the questions left him confused. He could not understand what Naruto meant. To understand he would have to find someone who could help him.

Later that day, Icharaku ramen

Naruto was having his lunch at the ramen stand. He was eating his ramen at a rather comfortable pace. He was not devouring it as he normally did. He was savoring it. This caused both Teuchi and Ayame to stare at him with wide eyes.

''Naruto is everything alright?'' Ayame asked her tone down.

Naruto just shook his head and continued to eat his ramen. He was not going to lie and say things were fine when they were not. He was not all right and he would say he was not all right. Saying he was fine when he was not did not help at all.

Father and daughter stared at Naruto. They had never seen him like this before. Even when he was not having a good day, he would lie and say he was fine. This time he actually made it clear to them that he was not all right. The fact that he was not even smiling or replying made them worried for the blond.

''Is there something we can do for you, Naruto?'' Teuchi asked looking straight at the blond.

Again, Naruto shook his head, but this time he shook it negative.

Before Teuchi could say anything, Jiraiya appeared beside the blond via shunshine. The white haired sannin sat on a chair beside Naruto.

''Can I have a bowl of miso ramen please.'' Jiraiya stated looking at Teuchi. Teuchi nodded and went away to the kitchen with his daughter.

Naruto continued to eat his ramen as if Jiraiya was not even there.

Ayame brought Jiraiya his ramen and the sannin began to eat. The ramen stand with greeted with a few minutes of silence. Naruto had nothing to say to Jiraiya, Jiraiya was just trying to see if Naruto would say something first.

''I'm taking you on a three-year training trip.'' Jiraiya said breaking the silence. He had just said it, thinking that it might cheer the blond. However, Naruto did not even pause, or blink at his words.

After finishing his ramen, Naruto stood up and turned his back to the ramen stand. ''I will be waiting for you at the gate.'' He said walking away from the ramen stand.

''You want to us to leave now?'' Jiraiya asked.

Naruto turned around and faced Jiraiya. He gave Jiraiya a look that clearly said, 'I thought my words made that clearly obvious.' He gave Jiraiya the look and turned around again walking away.

''Fine, I will go to see Tsunade-hime first,'' Jiraiya, said more to himself that Naruto. He looked at Ayame and saw the worried look on her face.

''Do not worry, he will be alright. When he gets back to the village, he will be back to his cheerful self.'' Jiraiya said to Ayame trying to sooth the teen's worries.

''I hope he does.'' Ayame said sadly.

Jiraiya smiled before a realization dawned on him, ''That damn brat he left me with the bill!'' Jiraiya yelled particularly to no one. Naruto had left without paying for his ramen, which meant he had to pay. He hated paying bills he hated using his money. It was why when he was travelling with Naruto while they searched for Tsunade; he used Naruto's money to pay for the bills.

25 minutes later

Jiraiya appeared at the large gates of Konohagakure no Sato in a swirl of leafs. He had gone to Tsunade to get the documents for him and Naruto. The documents would help them for when they visited other villages and for when they returned. The Hokage signed the documents. The documents also acted as proof that they were indeed at a training trip, should someone question their disappearance.

Jiraiya saw Naruto leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He noticed that Naruto had not changed his clothes and was not even carrying a bag for his things.

Naruto walked forward passing Jiraiya. Jiraiya just turned around stared at Naruto's back, ''Naruto, where is your bag? You cannot go on a training trip without packing a few essential things.'' he said.

''I have nothing to pack; therefore I have no need for a bag.'' Naruto replied monotonously as he continued to walk away from the gate.

Jiraiya sighed and followed Naruto from behind. 'This is surely going to be long three-years if he does not change quickly' Jiraiya thought looking at Naruto.

Three days later

Naruto lay in a bed at a hotel. They were at a small town they had come across. Jiraiya had tried to hustle money from Naruto to pay for their rooms. However, Naruto had told the sannin that he had no money to pay for a hotel bill. Jiraiya paid, albeit sadly seeing his money 'leave' him.

Nothing much had happened since the left Konoha. They just walked in silence. Jiraiya had tried to start conversations, but found it hard to maintain a conversation given that Naruto did not want to talk. He just wanted to travel in peace without any trouble.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, ''I am going to see my spy contact. Stay here and do not go out. If you are hungry eat here at the hotel.'' Jiraiya said, ''I might return tomorrow but do not worry. If there is anything summon a toad to inform me.'' He finished his instructions and left the room.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the door after Jiraiya had left. Jiraiya had yet to tell him how they were going to train. He had never even mention a word of training. It was always like this with Jiraiya, he favored peeping than training him. Jiraiya had only taught him the Rasengan because it was the only way to get him to accompany him in his search for Tsunade.

Naruto thought for a moment. When Jiraiya was training him before the chunin exam finals, he never trained him to better his skills. The sannin had only gotten him to sign the summoning contract. He never trained him in anything else, other than chakra control exercises and learning to use the Kyuubi's chakra. In some sense he was like Kakashi, the only difference was that Jiraiya had taught him a few useful things. However, they all favored something else other than training him.

During his time with Jiraiya, the sannin had always spoken about utilizing the Kyuubi's chakra. It was as if Jiraiya thought he was nothing without the Kyuubi's chakra. Controlling the Kyuubi's was most likely what Jiraiya was going to teach him for the whole three years. Naruto remembered correctly, the sannin had already started training him in using the Kyuubi's chakra.

He was surely not going to train the way he wanted and his jutsu arsenal would not increase if he stayed with Jiraiya. The sannin had introduced him to water walking. He had yet to perfect the exercise. Chakra control exercises were certainly, what they would do first, and with Jiraiya, it would take a year for the exercises to be completed. If he were being honest with himself, he would say that his ninjutsu arsenal was pathetic. All he had was the **Rasengan** and the **Kage** **bunshin**. Take that away and he had nothing, he would be just as useless as Sakura. Naruto wanted to increase his own skills. The Kyuubi's chakra would act as his last resort of triumph card.

Staying with Jiraiya would certainly do him no good.

Without another thought, Naruto walked towards Jiraiya's bag. He opened it and took out his training trip documents. He folded the document and pocketed it without a second thought.

Naruto walked out of the room calmly using the door. He even used the door leaving the door. He was in no hurry or afraid that Jiraiya would catch him. Naruto knew that Jiraiya was getting drunk somewhere with women he paid. It would take a day or so for the pervert to return. When he did, he would not find him. He did not need to leave a note behind saying that he had left, Jiraiya was smart enough to know that he left on his own.

Two days later

He had no idea where he was going. He just ran through the fire countries forest. He would figure out where to go as soon as he was far away from Jiraiya. Years of experience in hiding from ANBU's after he had done a prank to the village would certainly pay up in getting Jiraiya off his back till he found a place to hind.

''Hello Naruto-kun.'' A voice said from behind Naruto forcing him to come into a halt.

Naruto was cursing himself because someone had found so easily. It had not been even three days since he was on the run and now he was already found. He looked at his jumpsuit and cursed it, remembering what people had said about it. 'Maybe it does give away my position easily.' Naruto thought to himself as he turned around to see who had found him.

**Well that was it. Unlike the other story I removed this one will not be removed, it is far too interesting for me to do so. I have already began with the second chapter, should be posting it within a week or so.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Origins**

Naruto turned around to see who had called his name. His eyes widened upon the man his eyes came to see. He was truly shocked to see the man in front of him. He never thought that the man would find him alone just after he had left Jiraiya. Never, something like that never even crossed his mind, not even a wind of it. The man was wearing an Akatsuki cloak and had blood red eyes called the Sharingan. He had seen the man before when he had tried to capture him. It was a time when he was with Jiraiya while they were searching for Tsunade. During that time, this man he was seeing had shown him just how strong he was by beating the crap out of Sasuke, his own brother, as if it was nothing.

This man was an S-rank criminal, and the one to have massacred the Uchiha clan single handedly. Many feared him and admired for his power. He was the strongest Uchiha of his generation, and a prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Naruto's thoughts about the man, where that he should run away from him given that he was assigned to capture him for the Kyuubi.

This man was Uchiha Itachi. Regardless of what his body was telling him, Naruto knew that he could not escape from Itachi. He was not fast enough to do that, he did not even have the power to slow down him down. No matter how he might run, Itachi would catch him before he gets anywhere. Running away was pointless; it would just be a waste of time and energy to try anything. Naruto cursed himself for being caught so easily. Of all the people to get to him, it just had to be Itachi, the man who was trying to capture him. Itachi was his enemy, so to have his enemy get to him just two days after leaving Jiraiya was troubling.

Naruto stopped cursing himself and jumped down to the ground. His features went to blank, showing nothing, no sign of fear or preparedness to fight. Naruto just looked calm with a blank expression that would make most have difficulty in reading what was going on in his head.

''Uchiha Itachi,'' Naruto stated monotonously, ''Have you come to capture me?'' He asked.

Itachi shook his head no confusing Naruto, though, the blond never showed any confusion on his face. Itachi walked further closer to Naruto before coming to a halt. He features where just as stoic as usual.

''Follow me.'' Itachi said waling past Naruto without another glance at the blond.

Naruto had no other options; he was as good as captured. Even though Itachi showed no hostile intentions towards him, he still had his guard up. Thinking of it, the Uchiha never showed any hostile intentions towards him even when he had come to him to capture him the time he was with Jiraiya. Nevertheless, that did not mean that the man did not want to capture him. Last time he had even asked him to come with him and his partner so that they could take him away and rip the Kyuubi out of him. Regardless, he had no choice in the matter. Last time he had stood his ground and tried to fight because he was a fool to think he could take out an S-rank criminal.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto turned around and followed Itachi. Just because he was following what Itachi had instructed did not mean he was just going to allow himself to be taken easily. He would wait for his time, if indeed Itachi was taking him to the Akatsuki base, he would pull out everything he had to try to escape, even if doing that might cost him life. Going down without a fight was never his style. Right now, he was just doing it the smart way.

For three days, Naruto followed Itachi. They were hopping through the trees at fast speeds. They only rested a little to recover spent energy. While on the stops, Itachi would hunt for food for them to eat. One could not travel with a complaining stomach for days. The only time Itachi spoke was when he was telling Naruto to stop so they rest and when he was telling him to get ready so that they could leave. Naruto did not mind the silence, though. It worked better for him. He still had to work on what to do with his life after the events of the Valley of the End. His past life was what led to the event to happened at the valley. He did not want to leave that life again. He did not wish to be betrayed again, it hurt more than anything did. While travelling with Itachi in silence, he was working on finding a solution for himself.

He also had to think about his training. The training was why he had left Konoha in the first place; the training was why he had abandoned Jiraiya.

There was also his current situation. Any choice he would make regarding his future would be worthless if Itachi took him to the nest of Akatsuki. He did feel a part of him telling him that it was not the case, but still he could never be sure. He did not know much about Itachi. What he knew was the he was Sasuke's older brother, a member of the Akatsuki and the man responsible for the Uchiha clan massacre. What he knew was just common knowledge everyone who has heard of the Uchiha knew. He was also wondering where the Uchiha was taking him. Itachi never did say where he was taking him, he just told him to follow.

Itachi was truly surprised that Naruto could keep up with him without sticking out his mouth like a tired dog gasping for air. He had heard that the boy was energetic but he did not think he was this energetic. The fact that he only seemed slightly winded meant that the kid had a lot of chakra and stamina. Even for a jinchuriki, he had to have tire already. It was not every day that one found a genin who could keep up with an S-rank shinobi without so much as complaining.

A few hours later Itachi dropped from the trees making Naruto imitate him. They walked slowly for a few minutes before they arrived at what seemed to be a house. The front of the house at an Uchiha clan crest painted on them. The house hidden, it would make it a hideout.

Naruto just followed Itachi from behind as they entered the doors inside the house. Itachi led Naruto to the kitchen and motioned for the blond to sit down.

Naruto was first to speak as he was confused. It did not seem like Itachi wanted to take him to the nest of Akatsuki. ''What is this place?'' he asked looking straight at the Uchiha.

''Uchiha clan hideout.'' Itachi replied with an impassive tone. It was one of the hideouts that was located within the forest of the Fire country. The Uchiha clan had many hideouts around the nations that they used before hidden villages where formed.

''How were you able to find me so easily after I abandoned Jiraiya? I was sure that I had covered my tracks well enough to hide from everyone.'' Naruto asked curiously. Itachi just happened to find him just after he had abandoned Jiraiya. He knew Itachi had been assigned to capture him, Jiraiya had told him that much. However, the timing of the Uchiha's appearance was making him curious.

''I have been watching you, since your fight with Sasuke at the Valley of the End.'' Itachi replied his eyes searching how Naruto would react to being reminded of his fight with Sasuke. Naruto gave none, which made him suspicious of the blond.

''Why, was it so you could capture me easily?''

Itachi shook his head, ''I was not watching you because of my job as a member of the Akatsuki. I was watching you because I was interested in you.''

Naruto looked at the Uchiha for a second, ''Why?''

''You were the only person to have been close to my foolish little brother, so close that you used to see each other as brothers…And other reasons.'' Itachi replied nonchalantly.

Naruto noticed 'were' and 'used', Itachi reference his relationship in past tense, ''Were?''

Something like a smile formed on Itachi's face, only for a second, though. ''You are very perceptive than people give you credit.'' Itachi commented. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders. ''You are also very calm than usual given the situation you are in. Moreover, the impassive look on your face is not something that seems to have been adapted to recently. It seems like it has been there for quite a while now.'' He added.

Again, Naruto just shrugged his shoulders, ''Perhaps it might have been.'' He replied, ''So?'' Naruto continued going back to his question.

''Given your reaction towards Sasuke's attempts to kill you, and how you are now, it is logical that you no longer see him as your brother.'' Itachi said flatly. ''Sasuke was willing to kill you for the sake of power. Power to Sasuke was everything, it was his life, his greatest desire and if anyone stood in his way of getting power, he/she would certainly be his enemies. Seeing as you did just that, resulting in Sasuke's attempts to take your life. It is logical to conclude that none of you see each other as brothers anymore.'' Itachi replied as if he had read both Naruto and Sasuke's minds.

Naruto nodded, Sasuke no longer meant anything to him. The moment Sasuke pierced his chest with a Chidori in an attempt to kill him their relationship was dead. Sasuke had succeeded in 'killing' him. As such, Sasuke was 'dead' to him. The Sasuke that was living now was just like any other shinobi of Konoha. It would not do him any good to keep clinging on to a selfish bastard like Sasuke. The Uchiha only cares about his revenge and he did not matter to the Uchiha that was why he had attempted to kill him. Therefore, he did not have to be concerned with someone like that.

To put it simply, he no longer cared for Sasuke. That was why he was not even thinking of ways to kill Itachi for what he did to Sasuke. Whatever problems the two had, it was their own problems. He did not give a damn thing about it. He had no intensions of getting back to Sasuke for trying to kill him. It was not worth the effort.

''Why did you bring me here?'' Naruto asked wondering why the S-rank criminal had brought him to the hideout.

''Why did you leave Jiraiya and run off on your own?'' Itachi replied with a question of his own.

''I wanted to train.'' Naruto replied simply.

''Jiraiya is a sannin. He could have given you the training you require.'' Itachi stated. Anyone would be thrilled to have the opportunity to be trained by one of the legendary three ninja's, the sannin's. However, Naruto ran away from Jiraiya, a sannin. Most people do refer him as the strongest of the sannin's. It was interesting to hear why Naruto had left Jiraiya.

Naruto shook his head, ''The only training I would have gotten if I stayed with Jiraiya was chakra control exercises', a few taijutsu lessons and learning to control the Kyuubi's chakra.'' Naruto stated, ''That sort of training only makes me to be reliant on the Kyuubi. Without the fox's chakra, I would be nothing.''

Itachi nodded, he knew too well. Shinobi with special abilities, in Naruto's case, the almost unlimited supply of chakra from the Kyuubi, tended to rely of their special abilities. Uchiha clan members had come to be reliant on their doujutsu that without it they would be nothing. They had even forgotten how to fight without their doujutsu. Such a mentality was because the Uchiha believed that they were superior to other people given that they wielded a doujutsu powerful than others. True, their doujutsu was indeed powerful but that did not make them a powerful clan. Many strong shinobi had come up with ways to counter attack the abilities of the Sharingan often rendering it useless in a battle. Naruto was a jinchuriki if he relies too much on the Kyuubi rather than his own strength it would spell disaster. If he were to come across someone who was familiar with seals, they would just cut the flow of the Kyuubi's chakra to Naruto, that would it make impossible for him to use the chakra.

Still, ''Are you certain that is all he could have taught you?''

Naruto nodded, ''Jiraiya would not think twice to abandon me just so he could go do his 'research.''

A few moments of silence passed by

Itachi broke the silence after thinking about something, ''I brought you here to offer you training.'' He revealed.

Naruto's calm demeanor crumbled down within seconds of Itachi's words reaching him. Itachi was a criminal, someone who is a member of an organization that was after him. It was shocking to hear the Uchiha offering him training when a few weeks back he had been trying to capture him.

''Did I hear you correctly?''

Itachi only smiled slightly, Naruto's reaction to his offer was certainly amusing to see. The calmness that the blond had been carrying just faltered with a few unexpected words. The kid still had a long way to go if a few simple words could make him lose his calmness.

''You are a member of the Akatsuki, the very organization that is after me for the Kyuubi. Just a few weeks ago, you tried to kidnap me with that shark.'' Naruto said puzzled by the fact that Itachi was offering him training. "Shark," Naruto was referring to Kisame.

''I'm no longer a member of the Akatsuki,'' Itachi revealed shocking Naruto further. ''It is true that I did try to capture you, but that was when I was still a member of the organization.'' Itachi said not finding any reason to hide the "part" truth.

''I find that hard to believe.'' Naruto said banishing the shocked features in his face. ''However, I do know that you are not trying to capture me. If you wanted to you would have done it already then moment I saw you. You are strong enough to knock me out in a blink of an eye.'' He paused for a moment, ''Your offer does make me curious though, why would you offer me training? I no longer have attachments to your brother and I am just a former target to you.''

''You are rather smarter than you lead people to believe,'' Itachi commented after Naruto had spoken. Naruto just shrugged again, he did not have to explain why he appeared a bit smart when Konoha knew him as a glorified idiot. ''You are an interesting person with a kind heart. Despite how Konoha has treated you, you do not hate anyone or the village for it. You fight to protect it even if it might cost you your life you still do it, regardless of that the same village hates you.'' Itachi stated.

Naruto raised a brow, ''You speak as someone who actually cares about Konoha but yet you are responsible for the massacre of your own clan.'' Naruto said with a thoughtful look on his face. ''To be honest with the previous encounter with you and now, you do not seem like a psychotic killer to me as people portray you to be. However, appearances can be deceiving.'' Naruto said in a calm manner. If anything, Itachi seemed to be a rather peaceful person.

''Speaking from experience?''

Naruto knew what Itachi was referring to, but he just shrugged, he did not owe anyone an explanation, ''Perhaps.''

''I wise person does not believe everything he is told or hears.'' Itachi stated cryptically. ''As for my reasons for offering you training, I have informed you of them, you chose what you wish to believe.'' Itachi said standing up, ''I will give you time to think about my offer. I will be gone and return in five days. When I do return, give me your answer.'' He stated walking away, without turning back, he spoke again. ''Everything you might need is within the hideout.'' He said and disappeared, leaving Naruto with so much to think about. If Konoha found out he was in connection with a missing-nin, he would certainly be in trouble. Itachi was a wanted man in Konoha. If anybody was to be aware of his whereabouts, they were to report it immediately to the Hokage. Here he was, he was not even thinking about that. For the first time in his life, he brushed off what people would say about him. He brushed off what Konoha would think about him. He put himself first when making a decision, a decision that would benefit even Konoha.

Jiraiya

The white hared toad sage was panicking. What scared him the most was what Tsunade would to do him when she does find out that Naruto was not with him. He was surely going to spend a month in the hospital with a broken body. Just the thought of it made him pale, with cold shivers dancing down his spine. He knew that no one had taken Naruto. Naruto had just left him. He failed to understand why the he would leave. He was an awesome sensei, better than Kakashi. He did not understand why Naruto hated him like this. The fact that Naruto left meant that he did not care about him. If he did care for him, he would have never left knowing that if Tsunade found out she would kill him.

Jiraiya was running across the Fire country trying to find Naruto. He would certainly not go to Konoha and inform Tsunade of the latest development. He would search for the blond first. What Tsunade did not know would not hurt her. He just had to keep away from Konoha until he found Naruto. He had connections all over the shinobi world. There was nowhere Naruto would go he would not be able to find him. It was just a matter of time.

Given time, he would find him and make him pay for worrying him and risking his health. 'Naruto does not know much about the elemental nations and is too loud to keep hiding for a long time. I will find him soon enough.' Jiraiya thought hopping through trees.

The Uchiha Hideout

The days had passed and Itachi had returned. Naruto had made his decision on the first day. He had no other good option than the one Itachi was giving him. If there were to be consequences for his choice, he would gladly face them without fear or regret. The choice was his and he would live with his choice without regrets. Regrets did not change anything they just make you miserable. Naruto would rather live with the consequences of his choice than being miserable for the rest of his life. When you make a choice, you had to stick by it regardless of the consequences. Once you start to question your choices, you begin to question your beliefs. Once that happens, you became lost.

Naruto looked at Itachi without a smile on his face. The Uchiha was just staring at him impassively, ''So you have made your choice.'' Itachi stated.

''You knew I was going to accept your offer.'' Naruto said flatly. ''I have nowhere to go, and I do not know anyone I could go to and hide while I train. I just abandoned Jiraiya without knowing where to go. You knew that and gave me the perfect offer knowing that I had no other choice.'' He said. It was obvious that Itachi had calculated that he would have nowhere to go if he refused his offer. There was also no one who would train him if he refused Itachi's offer. Itachi had just capitalized on the situation

.

''How perceptive of you,'' Itachi commented on how Naruto was able to see things. ''Perhaps I did,'' He said.

''I do find one thing rather curious though,'' Naruto stated. ''You say you are no longer a member of the Akatsuki yet you still wear the Akatsuki cloak.''

''I've grown fond of it,'' Itachi replied flatly. True, he had grown fond of it, but that was not the only reason he wore it. People feared the black cloak with red clouds knowing that whoever was wearing it was an S-rank criminal. With that knowledge people tended to avoid anyone who wore the cloak. The fact that people avoided the Akatsuki cloak influenced Itachi hold on to it. He rather enjoyed peace than needless bloodshed. If people saw the cloak, they would avoid picking a fight with him, leaving him alone to enjoy his peace.

''Why did you leave the Akatsuki?'' Naruto asked wanting to know why Itachi would leave the home of S-rank criminals.

''You should not concern yourself with such things.'' Itachi replied. He did not intend to tell Naruto why he left the organization...for now that is.

Naruto nodded, but that did not mean he had lost his curiosity. It just was not important at this time. ''When do we begin the training?''

''We will begin tomorrow...you should rest.'' Itachi said walking away from Naruto.

It was not even night, Naruto wondered what kind of training he would have to go through. Naruto shrugged off his thoughts and went outside the hideout.

Naruto went through hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground. **''Kuchiyose no jutsu**!'' In a large puff of smoke a colossal dull, dusty red toad appeared.

''**Why have you called me Jiraiya?"** The giant toad grumbled. He certainly did not want to be used as Jiraiya's escape jutsu for when he was caught peeping. Jiraiya also had the nerve to summon him just so he could do his stupid pose with him.

''Chief, it was me who summoned you.'' Naruto stated sitting comfortably on top of the toad's head. The toad Naruto had summoned was the toad chief Gamabunta.

''**What is it gaki?''** Gamabunta asked looking around, **''This does not look like a battlefield**.''

''No it doesn't.'' Naruto said.

**''Then why have you called me?''**

''I have a favor that I must request from you.'' Naruto said his tone calm.

Now Gamabunta came to notice the difference in Naruto's tone, which made him curious. He did not ask anything, nonetheless. **''What favor**?''

''I was supposed to be on a training trip with Jiraiya for three-years. However, I abandoned Jiraiya because he would no train me the way I want to be trained.'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''Jiraiya will probably try to get you or any other toad to reverse summon me to Mount Myouboku once he realizes that he could me that way. I want you to tell him you cannot reverse me.''

Gamabunta was quiet for a moment, **''Was it really necessary for you to leave Jiraiya?''**

''Yes,'' Naruto replied flatly. ''So will you do it?''

**''Gaki, you are asking me to lie to Jiraiya. That is something I cannot do, given that Jiraiya has been a very loyal summoner for many years**.'' Gamabunta replied.

''If you can't lie, then simply tell him you can't because I asked you no to do it.'' Naruto stated.

Gamabunta sighed, he really could not refuse the kid, **''Fine,''** He said. **''Are you sure it is safe** **without Jiraiya protecting you**?'' He asked worried for the blond.

''Don't worry about me, I am in good hands.'' Naruto replied with a smile.

**''Summon Gamakichi regularly so that I can be able to see that you are well**.'' Gamabunta said as he disappeared back to Mount Myouboku. Naruto smiled, that was a problem solved. Jiraiya would have no way of tracking him now, if the toads refuse to help him. He could continue now without having to worry about Jiraiya finding him through the toads. He could not have the toads null his contract just so Jiraiya could not track him. The toad contract was important and valuable. He would be foolish to willingly have it cancelled.

Itachi smiled not far away from Naruto. Naruto was doing well to cover his tracks. The fact that he had thought of having the toads refuse to reverse summon him if Jiraiya asked before Jiraiya had thought of it meant much about his thinking process.

The following day

As early as the day had taken its shift, Itachi had already taken Naruto outside to a small training ground. Naruto had no complains, he was not even sleeping when Itachi had come to wake him up. Sleep had eluded him all night. Itachi wanted to get Naruto started with the training as soon as possible. He had so much to train the blond, and for him to teach Naruto everything he had to take time and use it wisely. He had time, but the shinobi world was unpredictable. Today you could say you have time, tomorrow you find you do not have it. Where the time went, becomes a mystery. Itachi took time seriously. He did not take it for granted. He believed that time not used beneficially would surely be regretted in their near future.

''The skills you have as a ninja are the **Kage bunshin, Rasengan**. The two are your most powerful techniques.'' Itachi stated reminding of his ninjutsu arsenal. ''You have no defined taijutsu style and you lack speed.'' Naruto was a brawler. He had no taijutsu style. He just fought as he could without taking a defined taijutsu style. Because he never trained in taijutsu, he lacked speed. Probably the only male genin who Naruto could beat in speed was Shikamaru and maybe Chouji.

''Before I begin to teach you anything. You must have jounin-level chakra control; your body must be conditioned physically. You must also know your chakra affinity.'' He paused for a moment before continuing. ''With jounin-level chakra control, you will be able to learn ninjutsu without too much difficulty. When your body is conditioned physically, I will be able to teach you Taijutsu and kenjutsu.''

Naruto nodded with a small smile. Itachi seemed to have put a thought to his training. If he was with Jiraiya, the pervert would have just taken him somewhere and dump him to do something while he went away to peep. The fact that Itachi seemed to be taking the training seriously brought him to smile.

''What do we begin with?'' Naruto asked his voice was dripping with a bit of excitement betraying the calm look on his face.

''Before we begin,'' Itachi said. ''Do you know the secret of the Shadow clone technique?'' Itachi asked curiously. He doubted Naruto knew of it though, despite how smart he seemed to be.

''Secret?'' Naruto asked with a raised brow.

Itachi sighed inwardly. He wondered what Jiraiya and Kakashi were teaching Naruto and if they ever wanted him to become strong. With Naruto unaware of the secret of the shadow clones, it was hard to say that they wanted him to become strong. If they wanted him to become strong, they could have told him the secret. Naruto could have achieved so much with the shadow clones. He was truly disappointed in both Jiraiya and Kakashi for willingly keeping this kind of information to Naruto.

''It appears that Kakashi, Jiraiya nor the Sandaime for that matter saw it as something of significance to tell you this.'' Itachi stated. Even the Sandaime knew Naruto was able to use the Shadow clone jutsu and yet he did not tell him of the secret. ''The Shadow clone jutsu has a unique ability that allows the clones to transfer the memories and experiences they gained back to the user when they disperse.'' Itachi revealed the secret to Naruto.

''I have never noticed that despite the fact that I always use the jutsu.'' Naruto said with a thoughtful expression. ''I wonder why Jiraiya and Kakashi never told me of it though.'' He thought aloud but shrugged off his thoughts. They did not tell him because they had their own reasons, he did not have to wonder about their reasons where. It was not worth the effort.

''As you might have concluded, the shadow clone can be a very useful tool when used for training. You can be able to achieve a year's worth of training within a week by using shadow clones. Not everyone can survive that kind of training..." Itachi stated, ''How many clones can you make?''

''About 2000,'' Naruto replied nonchalantly as if it was nothing astounding.

Itachi raised a single brow, ''Can you still fight after making that many clones?''

''Yes I summoned 2000 when I was fighting Gaara and was able to summon the toad chief even after summoning the clones.'' Naruto replied, ''I have heard Kakashi say that some people can die due to chakra exhaustion if they create more than ten clones. I can create 2000 and not even feel the effects of creating the clones that must mean I have large amounts of chakra reserves.'' Naruto concluded more to himself that to Itachi.

Another brow rose when Itachi heard Naruto say he created 2000 clones and after that, he summoned the toad chief. That was more chakra than he imagined Naruto had. Naruto was still just a 13 years old boy and had the chakra reserves of more than a kage. It would be frightening to see the kind of chakra he would have when he had matured and at his prime. That is still not counting the chakra of the Kyuubi. With that much chakra, Naruto had the potential to become one of the strongest if not the strongest shinobi in the world. With Naruto's chakra alone, it should have made someone like Jiraiya take more interest in training him. However, Jiraiya disregarded all the chakra Naruto had and went straight for the Kyuubi's chakra. If Naruto could learn to control his chakra well, he would have no need for the Kyuubi's chakra.

''This will make your training progress faster than I had imagined.'' Itachi said after a few moments of silence. ''Do you know what you chakra affinity is?''

Naruto shook his head, he knew of different wind elements but he never tried to find what his element was.

Itachi took out a piece of paper from his cloak making naruto raise a brow. He did not think that the cloak had pockets in the inside. Itachi handed the piece of paper to Naruto, "Channel your chakra into the paper." He said. "If it crumbles into dust your element is earth, if it burns your element is fire, it becomes wet your element is water, if it shocks you your element is lightning, if it is shredded into pieces your element is wind."

Naruto did as instructed, ''Wind'' he stated.

Wind was powerful, but rare to find. Wind chakra was also hard to control given how powerful it was. However, when one had master control over wind manipulation, they could be become dangerous opponents for someone to face.

''Within a month you can be done with chakra control exercises.'' Itachi said and then took out a scroll from his cloak. He threw the scroll at Naruto who caught it. ''That is a storage seal. It has beginner's books in fuinjutsu. I want you to create five clones and have them study the books. You will continue to do that each day until you understand everything.''

Naruto nodded and created five clones. The clones new exactly what their job was. Naruto handed them the scroll and they went away to begin studying the books. He did not need to question why Itachi wanted him to learn something complex as fuinjutsu. Sealing was indeed useful, with his little time with Jiraiya he understood that the man was adept to using seals. They were indeed useful and powerful. The Kyuubi was locked within him because of the art. Orochimaru had used a seal to cut the flow of the Kyuubi's chakra within him during the fight at the forest of death.

Itachi created a clone of himself. ''Create 100 clones.'' Naruto created the clones without questions. ''Follow me.'' The clone Itachi said as it walked away. The clones Naruto created followed him.

''Where are they going?'' Naruto asked curiously.

''This hideout is not far from the Valley of the End.'' Itachi stated. ''They are going there to train in water walking for chakra and wind manipulation at the waterfall.''

''Isn't the Valley of the End a place they could be easily spotted by someone?'' Naruto asked. The Valley was not by any means hidden unlike the hideout. Anyone could reach the place. If Naruto was training there, someone passing by the valley could easily see him.

''It is, but I have taken measures that will ensure something like that does not happen.'' Itachi replied flatly.

Naruto felt no need to question what sort of measures Itachi had taken, thus he just nodded.

Itachi walked away from Naruto and went inside the hideout. While some of Naruto's clones studied fuinjutsu, the others practiced water walking and the others where to practice wind chakra manipulation by attempting to cut the waterfall with chakra. Naruto would be doing physically activity, which he would continue to do until his training was complete.

Itachi came back to the small training ground holding weights. Naruto had to wear them on his ankles and hands. They would help him develop speed, and pure physical strength.

Itachi handed the weights to Naruto, ''Put them on.''

Naruto did as instructed but found it rather hard to stand straight due to the extra weight that he carried. ''How much weight am I carrying?''

''Each weight weighs at 5kg. That makes it 20kg in total.'' Itachi replied. ''Now run around the training ground. It does not matter how many times you run, I just want you to get used to having the extra weight on your body.''

Naruto began to jog as he could run with the weights on. Itachi was certain that because Naruto was a jinchuriki, his body would be able to adapt fast to the weights. Any damaged muscles would be healed over night given the Kyuubi's chakra healed.

For each day, Naruto did the same process. Running around the training ground while his clones studied fuinjutsu, did water walking exercises and train in wind manipulation. As soon as Naruto was able to walk without much trouble with the weights, Itachi increased the weight Naruto had to carry. Naruto never complained. To become strong he had to endure everything.

6 months later

A bundle of shurikens went flying at fast speeds towards Naruto. He looked at the shurikens calculating their movements and speed. The shurikens numbers tripled out of nowhere. Naruto cursed as a shower of shurikens flew towards at him. He jumped back to avoid the first wave of the shurikens. More came at him. Naruto disappeared from his position in a burst of speed avoiding the shurikens. As soon as he touched ground, another wave of shurikens sped in flight towards him.

Naruto did quick thinking and used a seal less replacement technique replacing with a tree log. The shurikens pierced the log in place of Naruto. Naruto let loose of a sigh of relief upon having the log save him from pain. Without warning, two more shurikens came behind Naruto and imbedded themselves on his back. Naruto winced at the pain and forced the shurikens out of his body.

**''Fire Style: Great Fireball**!'' Naruto heard from behind. A small fireball sped towards him. Naruto was quick to dodge the fireball in a burst of newfound speed.

The moment he touched ground a foot crashed onto his back sending him flying away. Naruto recovered by flipping in midair. He landed down in a crouched position panting slightly.

Itachi landed down beside him with an impassive look on his face, ''Your opponent will never give you time to recover your energy.'' He stated and moved fast. He kicked Naruto to his chest sending him flying. Naruto winced as Itachi's foot crashed to his chest.

Itachi appeared from behind Naruto while he was still in flight. ''Your senses must be on high alert each time you in a battle. You must be able to see what your eyes can't.'' he stated and pummeled Naruto to the ground.

Naruto crashed to the ground on his front. He recovered quickly and stood up. He took a taijutsu similar to the Uchiha interceptor style. If he did not do that, more assaults from Itachi would follow. It was always like this training with Itachi. Each day he had to leave the training ground with a pained and beaten body. Itachi never took it easy with him. To Itachi there was no easy way of learning that engaging in actual battle. It was a real fight, as Itachi would break his bones if he gave him the chance to. Naruto was not allowed to take of his weights that now weighed at 150kg. He had 50kg on each ankle and 25kg on both his hands.

''That is it for day, Naruto-kun.'' Itachi stated.

Naruto sighed and sat down on the ground. The Kyuubi had already dealt with the wound on his back. He was no longer in pain; he was just a little out of breath.

At the other side of the hideout, hundreds of clones were busy with their own training. Since Naruto attained chakra control and wind chakra manipulation that was satisfactory to Itachi, some of his clones where learning wind jutsu's. Their progress was steady, which was enough for Naruto. Itachi never allowed him to use any of the jutsu's he had been learning when they fought.

Itachi had taught Naruto a taijutsu similar to the Uchiha interceptor style. The style focused on predicting your opponent's attacks and counter-attacking. To be able to be proficient with the style one had to be fast and alert. You could not predict your opponents attacks and think of a way to counter-attack if you where slow. Naruto had changed a few things for the style to work for him. It was hard for him to get a grasp of the style since he did not have the Sharingan to predict his opponent's attacks. Itachi had told Naruto to expand his senses and awareness to be able to predict his opponent's attacks. He also had to be very observant of the way his opponent fought. To expand his senses Naruto had to do a lot of meditating.

His fuinjutsu was going well. He was no longer studying books beginners. He was now able to create his own seals, less complex seals though. The only seals he had been able to create where explosive tags and storage seals.

Itachi had also let Naruto read a scroll on a few kenjutsu styles. Naruto decided not to learn any kenjutsu style. He decided to study the art of kenjutsu itself. He wanted to learn the relationship between a wielder of a sword and a sword. He found that a true kenjutsu fighter treat a blade as an extension to his body. The blade became something as his/her third hand. Whatever the sword felt he/she had to feel it to. One had to be coordinated with the sword. Overall, a kenjutsu fighter shared a very ''intimate'' relationship with his/her sword.

''Naruto, I am going away for a while,'' Itachi stated. ''While I am gone, only create clones to study fuinjutsu. You will be practicing the jutsu's your clones have been learning and kenjutsu. Do not leave the hideout. Stay here until I return.'' He instructed Naruto in a serious tone emphasizing the seriousness of his words.

''Hai'' Naruto replied. With only six months Naruto has spent with the S-rank criminal, Naruto had learned a few things about Itachi. He was an honest person and peaceful, Smart and easily bored with unintelligent conversation. The fact that Naruto saw Itachi in that light brought him to see Itachi as someone that was not a criminal. In fact, Naruto now respected Itachi. Despite being the men to have massacred the Uchiha clan, Itachi was a positive influence to Naruto.

Most of all, Naruto trusted Itachi. His trust in Itachi was the reason he was not even asking where he was going.

With Naruto's acknowledgment to his words, Itachi walked away. He trusted Naruto to follow his instructions.

Three weeks later

Naruto lay in the middle of the small training ground, clothes tattered several sword wounds around his body. His breathing was labored and eyes were unfocussed due to the sheer pain and tiredness he felt. His chest was left bear due to the cuts his upper clothing received. Several streams of blood matched across his chest down the ground. Several shurikens and a sword lay beside him. The tip of the sword had blood signifying it had been tasting blood.

It had been one of his training sessions. Ever since Itachi departed from the hideout he had taken the time to practice kenjutsu. So far, the results had been satisfactory. It was not perfect it was anything but that. The progress was satisfying nonetheless. He could handle a sword well, better than he did when he had yet to practice kenjutsu. His kenjutsu had its flaws though, but he could correct the flaws to his kenjutsu with the time he still had before he had to return to Konoha. With the shadow clones by his side, by the end of his training, he would be proficient if he kept training as much as he had been during Itachi's absence. The first thing he had to work on with his kenjutsu was the openings his style left. If he encountered someone that was faster than him, his kenjutsu would leave him like an open book. Anyone faster than him would be able to take advantage of the openings his kenjutsu left.

Itachi walked slowly towards the training ground. He saw Naruto's bloodied body. A smile crept into his face, as what he was seeing was just the results of how his 'student' was training in his absence. The smile quickly disappeared when Naruto shifted his head upon sensing Itachi. Naruto positioned himself to look at Itachi perfectly. He was glad to see that Itachi had returned, not that he would ever admit it to Itachi.

''I see you have been training well.'' Itachi commented with an expressionless face. Whether he was pleased or not, one that did not know him better could not tell. ''Get cleaned up, I want to tell you something.'' Itachi said as he showed Naruto his back and went back to the house.

Naruto sighed tiredly and stood up. The Kyuubi had already begun its job of healing him. It was as if Naruto had his own medical nin living inside his own body. The Kyuubi always healed him of his injuries. He could never have a scar caused by wounds. His flesh always returned to what it had been each time the Kyuubi finished healing his body. Sometimes Naruto pitied the Fox because it always worked overtime in healing him. Each night his body had to be healed of its injuries. He had to be recovering his chakra. The Kyuubi was responsible for that to happen quickly.

Naruto's feet carried him to the house lazily. He went inside and took a long calming bath. His body had to relax and be calm after the strain he had put it under by his training. A hot bath was always soothing to his body. After the bath, Naruto changed his clothes. Ever since he began his training, he had discarded his orange jumpsuit. He now wore dark blue shorts and a short-sleeved blue shirt.

Naruto walked to the sitting room and found Itachi sitting comfortably drinking tea. Looking at him drinking tea in peace one could never think he was the man who killed his own family and was a feared S-rank criminal. He was man whose name brought fear to those who knew of his power. Some people say that he massacred his own clan just to test his own strength. Some people have said that he had gone insane because of power. Yet there he was sitting comfortably drinking tea with an aura of peace radiating around him.

Naruto eyes trained at the small backpack on the table for a moment before going back to Itachi. He sat on the table across Itachi.

After a few minutes of silence, Itachi placed his mug down and looked at Naruto, ''When I departed here, I went to Konoha.'' Itachi stated.

Naruto face was expressionless just as Itachi's was. There was another thing that Itachi was teaching Naruto while they were not at the training ground.

Control over his emotions

Naruto was getting the hang of it but he was not like Itachi when it came to hiding emotions. Itachi was a master at doing something like that. You could tell him the most shocking thing and never get a reaction from him. Control over emotions was a shinobi's weapon. Without control over emotions, one was bound to careless mistakes. Emotions often clouded shinobi from making best decisions, which ended costing them.

Naruto nodded and waited for Itachi to continue. ''I had gone to fetch a few things that are inside this bag.'' Itachi stated, his eyes pointing at the small bag in the middle of the table.

''What?'' Naruto asked curiously. It must have been important for Itachi to risk going to Konoha when the very same village was hunting him. Had he be caught whilst inside the village, he could have been executed Most villagers saw him as a traitor partnered with Orochimaru in Konoha's most powerful traitors.

''Before that," he paused for a moment. "I told you that I have something that I must tell you.'' Itachi said. He was sure telling Naruto what he wanted to say was the right choice. ''It is something important that the Sandaime and Jiraiya neglected to tell you,'' he stated impassive not showing that what he wanted to tell Naruto was as important as he said.

Naruto was now truly curious. Itachi never said something was important unless it was important. There was also the fact that he said the he wanted to tell him something that the Sandaime Hokage and Jiraiya failed to tell him.

''It is about your parents. I am not sure why the Sandaime chose not to tell you about them.'' Itachi stated calmly.

Now, he had Naruto's full attention. It took all his will power to force himself to calm down. He just wanted to jump on Itachi and beg him to tell him about his parents. This was something that he had always had the need to know, but unfortunately, no one seemed to be willing to tell him anything. He knew that the Sandaime knew something, but just refused to tell him.

''Do you know of the Uzumaki clan?'' Itachi asked. Naruto shook his head. ''The Uzumaki clan, a clan that you are part of were allies of Konoha years ago. The orange swirl you see in Konoha's jounin flaks is the Uzumaki clan swirl. It was a sign of respect to the friendship that was between the Uzumaki clan and Konoha, to be more precise, the Senju.'' Itachi stated in a calm manner.

Naruto was a little surprised that he belonged to a clan. He did not know that Uzumaki was a clan name. He had always thought it was just a name like any other given that he was the only one within Konoha who uses the name. Even outside the village, he had never met anyone who used Uzumaki. No one even spoke of the Uzumaki clan, it was like the clan never existed, which was why Naruto was not aware of it.

''The Senju and Uzumaki were relatives, though neither has confirmed this. The Uzumaki clan lived in their village, called the Land of Whirlpools located at an island at the coast of the Fire country. They were seal masters and the first to create seals that could seal a bijuu within a human.'' That would explain why Itachi had Naruto learn fuinjutsu. ''Mastery with seals was not the only thing that the Uzumaki clan had. They possessed extra ordinary life spans and special chakra. Because of this, other villages feared their power. During the Second Great Shinobi war, the village was destroyed by the combined effort of Iwagakure and Kumogakure, leaving only a few alive.'' Itachi revealed while his eyes stayed on Naruto.

Naruto had many thoughts going through his head. It was rather hard to believe that his clan was destroyed only because of its power. There were many powerful clans, but neither has been destroyed because of their power. He understood that with seals, the impossible was possible, but to destroy a village just because they could make the impossible happen was unimaginable.

''Humans,'' Naruto said. ''They envy what is better than they are, fear what is powerful than them and hate that they do not understand and what is different from them. Desire everything that is likable to their eyes...such greedy beings.'' Naruto commented empathically.

Itachi nodded. ''That is indeed true. Greed has led the shinobi world to what it is today.'' Itachi stated agreeing with Naruto. ''Your mother was from the Uzumaki clan. She came into the village at a young age. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina.''

A smile crept into Naruto's impassive face. Something in his heart was stirred by knowing the name of his mother. He always had a desire to know something about her. It felt great, as if something missing to his heart was found and added. He had already accepted the fact that she may have been dead. Itachi confirmed it, it saddened him slightly but he was nonetheless happy that he knew her name.

''When your mother was brought to the village, she was brought for one thing.'' Itachi said. Naruto felt a sense of dread creeping inside of him. ''It was to be the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi.''

Naruto's eyes widened, losing his calm demeanor. He shared the same burdened as his mother. He feared if she had to live the same life as him, overbearing hatred from the villagers. Nevertheless, the fact that his mother was the previous jinchuriki of the Kyuubi made him feel a lot closer to her.

''I have never heard of anyone speaking of a previous jinchuriki of the Kyuubi before me, and there is not Kushina Uzumaki at the memorial stones.'' Naruto stated his confusion after getting over his shock.

''Your mothers status as a jinchuriki was kept a secret that was known only to a select few. Her name is not engraved at the memorial stones. Any records of her were removed from the library and everywhere else public. The only place you can find anything about her is at the ANBU headquarters.'' Itachi replied. He had been an ANBU captain during his time at Konoha. Such information was accessible to his eyes. ''There was another jinchuriki before her, but that has also been removed from any records. The first jinchuriki of the Kyuubi was the Shondaime's wife, Mito Uzumaki. Your mother was the second, and you are the third.''

Again, Naruto's eyes widened slightly. The Shondaime's wife was from his clan? Tsunade was the granddaughter of the Shondaime which meant Mito Uzumaki was her grandfather. Tsunade, Jiraiya and the Sandaime, these where people that knew of his mother and yet refused him the right to know.

Such an act was unforgivable

No one had the right, no one, to deny him of his right to know just even the name of his mother. Regardless of their reasons, such a decision to keep the name of his mother away from him was unthinkable. He could not understand how any human would do something like that.

''I still do not know how the Kyuubi was released from her. However, many say that a Sharingan was manipulating the Kyuubi. Regardless, the day your mother died was the day you were born, the day the Kyuubi attacked Konoha.'' Itachi stated.

The Kyuubi had escaped from Naruto's mother seal the day the Kyuubi went on a rampage. The Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto that day. His mother had died the day he was born. After nine months of carrying him, she never got the chance to breastfeed him, the chance to hear his first words. It must have been heart breaking for any mother to die the day her child was born. His life was indeed cursed. His mother died the day he was born, the Kyuubi was sealed in him the day he was born. After that, he was cursed to endure loneliness, hatred and pain all his childhood.

''...And as for your father.'' Itachi said snapping Naruto out of his thoughts. ''You know him very well, everybody in Konoha and outside of Konoha knows him, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage.''

Time stopped moving as it allowed Naruto to dwell on his thoughts. The world gave him a free space to think. Naruto became lost in his own thoughts. His father was the Yondaime Hokage; he had thought he was related to the man due to his similarities to the dead Hokage. However, he had nothing to prove it, and now Itachi had just proved. The Yondaime Hokage, a man he admired and always thought to surpass was his father.

His own father was responsible for sealing the Kyuubi inside of him. His own father had cursed him to live a life of shouldering hatred from the villages while he went to die. The villagers praised his father while they cursed him.

Jiraiya, Tsunade and the Sandaime, they knew of this and yet did not tell him. The Sandaime had known this, and yet put him into the orphanage. Kakashi also had to know since it was common knowledge that he was the Yondaime's prized student. He could not fault him given that it would not have been his place to tell. He also could not fault Tsunade since she only returned to the village a short while ago. However, the Sandaime? The old had looked him at his eyes and told him he knew nothing of his parents. Jiraiya was the Yondaime's sensei, he knew of this before he even came to his life. Yet he never bothered to fill in the holes inside of his heart. He just allowed him to continue living with his heart missing a few pieces that completed it.

Now, he knew why Jiraiya had even bothered to have him sign the toad contract. Take his time to 'train' him. It was now obvious; Naruto was the carbon copy of the Yondaime Hokage. Jiraiya had to be reminded of his former student each time he saw Naruto.

Anger, unbearable anger raged within Naruto. Anger that his own father was responsible for the miseries he had to ensure, angry that the people he trusted the most lied to him all his life. He could almost see them laughing at him, while he cried for his parents. They knew who they were, and yet they just laughed at him telling him that they did not know.

It brought so much anger within him. So much anger, that the atmosphere in the room became suffocating. Red bubbling chakra surrounded Naruto's entire body.

''Naruto!'' Itachi called out seeing the Kyuubi's chakra leaking out. If he did not calm Naruto, things might turn out nasty should Naruto leak too much chakra of the Kyuubi.

Naruto did not respond, he was too absorbed by his thoughts to hear Itachi. ''Naruto!'' Itachi called again raising his voice slightly.

It took a few moments for Naruto to register Itachi's words. He calmed down upon noting the temperature in the room, and the Kyuubi's chakra leaking out. His calming down forced the Kyuubi's chakra to recede back to the seal where it belonged. Naruto stared at Itachi for a moment before his eyes went to the ceiling.

''I managed to collect a few photos from your father's house. I took the liberty of taking scrolls with notes on jutsu's that made your father famous. I believe that they are yours to learn, and no one has the right do deny you that.'' Itachi stated eyes boring into Naruto, ''Everything I took is inside this bag.'' He said pointing at the bag on the table.

Naruto's eyes shifted from the ceiling to the bag and then settled onto Itachi, ''Why did you tell me this, when the Sandaime or Jiraiya chose not to?''

''For you to choose the correct path for your life and to become truly strong you must know who you are. Telling this, allows you to locate your roots. This in turn will help you become truly strong knowing where you came from, what you were born to become.'' Itachi replied getting from his seat. ''I will leave you to your thoughts. After that, we will resume your training while you know what you are training for.'' He said and turned around, walking away from the blond.

Naruto just stared at the retrieving form of Itachi with many thoughts dancing within his head. As soon as Itachi disappeared from his sight, and senses, he looked at the small beg on the table. Slowly, he took the bag and carried it to his room, intent on exploring all its content.

**Done **

**Naruto will continue with his training in the next chapter. The next chapter will conclude his training with Itachi. In the fourth chapter, he will return to Konoha. **

**I have already completed 4k words of the third chapter so, should be updating soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Three: Formed Bonds**

A few days passed, seemingly time was flowing faster than it normally did as if in a hurry for something. Naruto had gone back and forth with his thoughts. A few sleepless nights as his mind refused to home what he had been told.

Like everything else in life, the sleepless nights passed and he returned to sleeping peacefully at night. His mind was able to accommodate the new knowledge he had learned. Regardless of how painful and how much it angered him, he accepted it. Holding a grudge had never been his strength. Still, even though he could not hold hatred for those who wronged him willing fully, it did not mean he was pleased with their actions, he was far from that in all honesty. Nevertheless, for him to move on with his life, he could not hold on to the past. Things were done, choices where made that affected him, he has been living so far with those choices and he would continue to live on with them. Even now that he had realized just how deep the secrets that were hidden from him, he could not allow that to stop him from living.

He had endured so much in his young life to be stopped by something as his revealed parentage. His father was dead, the Sandaime was dead, only a screwed up person inside the head could hold a grudge against the dead. Not that he could actually hate his father even though he was alive. Hating him was beyond him. People who hold grudges against the dead are those that run about to curse the graves of the dead as if the rotten bones could hear them. Regardless, he did not have to like their choices because they were dead. He just had to accept it because there was nothing that he could do to possibly change what has happened. What had happened happened. He just had to find away to live with the burden that he was left to shoulder on his own. His father left the burden for him to carry, and he would carry it. He could not dump it on someone.

Uzumaki Naruto or rather Namikaze Naruto stared a picture of a red haired woman with blue eyes. He face was formed as his. Even though he held the picture within his hand, the image itself was already plastered across his mind. He admired her, even though he will never hear her voice as long as he lived in this world. She was his mother, a woman who carried the Kyuubi within her gut just as he does now.

Kushina Uzumaki

Naruto sighed and laid the image beside him. Even though it was just memory, something of the past, it still held great value within his heart. Nothing could be more valuable that the image of his mother. He did not need to see the face of the Yondaime, his father in a picture. All he had to do was look in the mirror and he would see a chibi Minato. Jiraiya had always said that he reminded him of his former student. Even he could not doubt the uncanny resemblance he shared with his father.

He had done through all the staff Itachi had brought for him. There were pictures of his mother and father, notes in fuinjutsu and the formula of the **Flying Thunder God Technique** and some notes in completing the Rasengan.

With another sigh escaping his lips, Naruto got up from the bed slowly and made his way to the kitchen. It was just past noon, during this time Itachi was surely drinking his tea. Each day on a set time, Itachi always had his tea. Naruto was not disappointed when he walked into the kitchen and saw the said Uchiha.

Itachi shifted his eyes from the hot black liquid inside a mug to the form of Naruto. He had let the blond do his own thinking and come to his own conclusions. He felt that it was necessary for Naruto to think on his own and make a choice of his own instead of manipulating him into thinking what he wanted him to think. It would not have helped anyone if he did something like that. He had already manipulated Sasuke into hating him while he making it ambition to kill him...and where was Sasuke now?

Naruto took a sat down across the table. He never did like drinking tea. That was Itachi's thing. Nevertheless, that did not mean that because he did not enjoy it as much as Itachi he did not drink it.

A few moments of silenced passed. Naruto just wondered across the elemental nations with his thoughts while Itachi sipped his tea.

''Have you thought through everything?'' Itachi asked placing his now empty mug on the table.

Naruto replied with a small nod, ''Yes, I have,'' his voice taking a flat tone.

''...And?'' Itachi asked with an impassive face as if he was not interested in his own question.

''I am not pleased with the fact that the Sandaime hid lied to me, and Jiraiya hid it from me. Tsunade also knew of this and yet relented to tell me. However, I cannot blame Tsunade since she only returned to the village.'' Naruto replied nonchalantly. His mindset had changed in a way that he no longer had it in him to call Tsunade ''Baa-chan.''

''Your father?'' Itachi asked again, he cared less for what Naruto thought of Tsunade and Jiraiya. What interested him were Naruto's thoughts towards his father.

Naruto adopted a thoughtful look for a second. It quickly disappeared upon its appearance. Naruto's face just became blank. Itachi could not really tell what he was thinking. ''I am not happy with what he did to me. If sacrificing his life was not enough, he also sacrificed me for the sake of the village.'' He said flatly. ''Regardless of that, he was my father, and I his son. I cannot change that. He did what he did as Hokage of Konoha. I can live with that. It's a little sad that he chose the village first over me.''

Itachi could not conclude whether he was mad or not. The tone of his voice was blank, no hint of anger of any emotion dripped from it. Added with the fact that he could not guess what was going on within the blonds head, Itachi decided to go with the thought that Naruto did not like that his father chose to use him as the Kyuubi's container, but understood that he had no choice given that he was the Yondaime Hokage. It was duty to protect the village, even if it meant making his only son a jinchuriki.

''Do you hate him?'' Itachi asked.

Naruto shook his head blankly, ''I don't like his choice to stick the Kyuubi inside me. He cursed me to live the life I have lived within Konoha.'' Naruto stated, ''Regardless of that, he is my father, and I just don't have the capacity to hate anyone especially my own father. I do understand his position given that he was the Hokage and had a duty to protect the village. So I bear no fangs for him.'' He said looking straight at Itachi.

''Your father wanted you to be seen as a hero. That was why the Sandaime publicly revealed your status as a jinchuriki. He believed that the village he died protecting would treat his son as a hero.'' Itachi said after a few moments of silence.

''...And that turned out very well. Konoha saw Uzumaki Naruto as the hero who jailed the Kyuubi saving them from being destroyed.'' Naruto said sarcastically. Though being sarcastic, his demeanor never changed, it stayed as it had been, blank.

''Your father was a great man Naruto,'' Itachi said ignoring the sarcasm. ''He desired peace. It was just unfortunate that he had to die soon and being so young. Nevertheless, he died a noble death.''

Naruto looked at Itachi with a slightly raised brow, ''Peace?''

Itachi nodded, ''In your short life you have yet to see what the shinobi world is like. But you have seen some despicable things given that you are a shinobi.'' Itachi replied keeping his calm demeanor. ''You have yet to see war and what follows after it. Konoha for example is enjoying ''temporary'' peace. The village has no qualms with others and the villagers live happily with one another. However, in your case, I doubt you have seen that since you have always had to endure hatred from the villagers.'' Itachi said and paused.

''The shinobi world, is full of unnecessary bloodshed. People lose their lives each day. Woman and children are raped, sold to forced labor and sex workers. Villagers fight each other for power, dominance, and just because of greed.'' Itachi paused allowing Naruto process every word he had said. ''Your father wanted to change that. He wanted the shinobi world to be free of that, free of war. He wanted a world where the nations where united, in agreement with one another. He wanted a world were brothers did not betray each other, he wanted peace.''

Naruto's blank expression was replaced by a thoughtful look. He never seen the world in a way Itachi saw it. However, he had seen some of things that were truly despicable. His father did have a noble cause. A world where villages could be in agreement with one another was certainly a world worth dreaming. He liked that sound of it.

''Peace huh?'' Naruto said. ''I have never thought of something like it. I used to dream of being Hokage just so I could gain the acknowledgement of the villagers, to prove my existence.'' He concluded with his thoughtful look still firmly in place.

''The Shodaime tried to bring peace during his time. Unfortunately, he failed despite all his power and humbleness. The Sandaime was next to try, but even he could not do it,'' Itachi stated. ''Nobody now tries to bring peace to the world today. Long lasting peace is seen as something impossible to achieve.''

''If we cannot trust each other, even steps to peace cannot be taken. Sunagakure easily betrayed Konoha despite being an ally to the village.'' Naruto said. ''If villages can easily betray each other and have no trust with each, they can never be in agreement with one another.''

Itachi nodded, ''Trust is something hard to gain, but rather easy to lose.''

Silence greeted the two, as both where speaking amongst themselves within their thoughts.

Naruto was thinking about something, bloodshed. The life of shinobi was ultimately to kill all the enemies of his/her villages. That made shinobi killers, life takers. He had seen some people take other people's lives without so much as remorse. He did not get why death was necessary even if the enemy was beaten.

''What are your views on killing?'' Naruto asked. He found it ironic that he was asking the question to a man who was responsible for the massacre of the Uchiha.

''Deaths are necessary sometimes. It is unfortunate, but often it has to be done to protect and save the lives of many.'' Itachi replied.

''Still, I think killing someone is wrong.'' Naruto argued.

''You have yet to kill, have you?'' Itachi asked earning a nod from Naruto. ''You are a shinobi you are bound to take the life of someone one day. Nevertheless, just because we kill does not make us monsters. We show that we are still humans by not enjoying the act of killing. A true shinobi accepts that killing is part of protecting, but never enjoys killing.''

Naruto decided not to take the conversation any further than it was already. He certainly did not like the fact he would have to kill someone one day. He just hoped that day never comes.

Itachi saw that Naruto did not want to further with the topic. ''Did you find the scrolls I brought useful?'' He asked changing the subject.

Naruto nodded, ''Yes, some scrolls with fuinjutsu will help me reach a depth level of understanding of the art.'' Naruto said. ''What I found most interesting was my father's notes in completing the **Rasengan** and the formula of the **Flying Thunder God technique**. Before the day ages my clones should be out there beginning working on completing the **Rasenga**n and deciphering the formula to the **Hiraishin**.'' Naruto stated with a small smile.

Itachi could tell he was excited by the prospect of learning the **Hiraishin.** ''How do you complete the Rasengan? I thought it was a complete jutsu.''

''You did not read the scrolls?'' Naruto asked with a slightly raised brow. Itachi shook his head in response. ''Well the **Rasengan** is made from pure chakra. You manipulate chakra alone to form it. But to complete it, you add your chakra element to it and it will take a new form. In my case wind element, and I will be able to create a powerful jutsu...well that is according to my father's notes. He was never able to complete it.''

Itachi nodded. He was interested in what jutsu Naruto would be able to create after successfully adding his wind element to the rasengan. The **Rasengan** was already an A-rank jutsu, adding a powerful element as wind would certainly make it even more powerful.

''When are going to continue with my training?'' Naruto asked. Learning the **Hiraishin** and trying to complete the Rasengan was something he would be adding to the training Itachi was already giving him.

Itachi stood up from his seat, ''Let us go now.'' He said.

Naruto had no complains. He followed Itachi to their small training ground. He was eager to pick up from where he left of. He had not trained with Itachi for a month now.

Naruto went through another training session that ended with body echoing with unbearable pain. Yet he made no complains for he knew that after the training it would have been worth it. There was no pain without a reward. He would get his rewards after the training.

**Konoha**

It had been two years since Naruto left the village. It had been two years since Jiraiya had been looking for Naruto after the blond had abandoned him. For two years, he searched all over the elemental nations and yet he found no clue as to where the blond was. He found nothing, no one had even seen the blond. It was as if he had just vanished from the face of the elemental nations. Naruto had disappeared without leaving a trace.

What Jiraiya was certain of was that he never left the borders of the Fire country. If he did, regardless of how good he might be at covering his tracks, he would have known. He was positive that the blond was still in the Fire country, where was the question. The Fire country was rather large and he could not search the entire country looking for a single person.

With a sigh, Jiraiya looked at the Hokage's tower from the Hokage monument. He had returned to the village to face Tsunade's wrath. Over the past two years, he had ''lost'' all connections with Tsunade as he searched for Naruto. He could not lie to her, thus he decided it was better to avoid speaking to her. Even if one of her messages got to him, he never replied.

He raised his right hand, which was holding a bottle of sake. He began to take a few gulps of the sake until the bottle was empty. He put on a brave face and wiped off his mouth ready to face Tsunade.

**Hokage's office**

Tsunade sat behind her desk doing her paperwork. She detested doing the paperwork, but it was duty to complete them, thus she was left with no choice but to do it. The paperwork was something of an everyday occurrence. She had to do it every day, and each day she would get a headache because of the load. The load never ended, just when she would think that she was done, Shizune would bring another load much to her dismay.

Tsunade sighed and leaned back to her chair. Ever since Naruto left the village, she had stopped consuming alcohol. She did get much work done without having to spend her time drinking. Despite that, she did miss her sake, surely, now she would have been savoring a cup of sake with no one in her face to disturb her. Back when she was still drinking, Shizune would always budge into her office stopping her from drinking. It always annoyed her, but she understood that her apprentice wanted her to get some work done.

Thinking of Naruto, she did miss him. She missed seeing him budging into her office calling her ''Baa-chan'' demanding for a mission. She missed every little annoying thing about him. Even the fact he would always try to runway whenever she wanted to check his physical health, as he hated hospitals. She missed having to have Shizune and Sakura chase him around the village to get him back to the hospital.

It was now two years, two whole years without seeing the large smile that always found a way to Naruto's face. She just hoped that he had changed and went back to normal and did not stay as he was when he left the village. It would pain her to see him in that condition he was again. Naruto to her was not Naruto without a goofy fox grin and eyes the brightened with life and happiness.

She also hoped that Jiraiya was training him to his best. She wanted her Naruto be strong when he does return to the village. She wanted him to have the strength of at least a jounin. She could expect that much from three years of training. Being a jounin, he could protect himself better. Even though he might be able to protect himself if he does return strong as a jounin, Tsunade would never stop worrying about him. With him being a jounin meant that Naruto would have to do heavy missions. As such he would see things that she rather he did not see.

Jiraiya had yet to give her any progress report. Something that was odd from the Sannin. Under normal circumstances, Jiraiya would have been sending her progress reports once every two or three months. Ever since he left, he had yet to send her any report, not even tell her where he was or doing. He had not even attempted to contact her or respond to any of her messages. She viewed it as suspicious behavior.

The window to her office bust open as Jiraiya made his entrance. He did not get anywhere near Tsunade fearing for the health of his beautiful body he stayed at the window.

''I'm home!'' Jiraiya said with a large grin on his face. He wanted to start things lightly for when he does have to deliver the ''news.''

''It's about time you showed up pervert!'' Tsunade stated ignoring the fact that Jiraiya did something she had abundantly told him not to. That did not matter now, there were pressing matters she had to discuss with him.

''So why haven't you made any contact with me and why have not responded to any of my messages?'' Tsunade asked with a straight face.

Jiraiya became nervous, "W-well, you see I have been busy that I did not have the time to respond. Nevertheless, here I am, this beats responding by a letter. This way you get to see my beautiful face.'' Jiraiya said getting over his nervousness.

A tick mark formed on Tsunade's head, but she quickly had it vanish. ''So how is he?''

Jiraiya scratched his forehead trying to find a better way to say it. He found none so he decided to say it like it was. ''Well you see hime, a few days after we left the village Naruto ran away from me.''

It took a few seconds for Tsunade to register what Jiraiya had said. When she did all hell broke loose.

''WHAAT!''

Her voice shook the very foundations of the village of Konohagakure no Sato. Everyone who was close to the office quickly put some distance between him or her and the Hokage's tower. When the Godaime made a screech like that, she was definitely not in a good mood. Moreover, when she was in a bad mood, things tended out to be nasty for whoever was in her office.

''It's not my fault hime. I had left him at a hotel room we had booked. When I returned from meeting my contact, he was gone.'' Jiraiya said positioning both his hands in front of him in a defensive manner.

''Jiraiya!'' Tsunade said as a murderous aura radiated around her. Her eyes lost their color as she stood up with clenched fists. She was beyond angry.

''Hime please, don't do anything. I am also worried about him.'' Jiraiya protested knowing what was about to come. He had his hands in front of himself ready to defend himself. His skin paled with each step Tsunade took towards him. Cold shivers rocked down his spine at the murderous aura that surrounded the blond Hokage.

''Jiraiya how could you?'' Tsunade uttered again, though not looking for an answer from Jiraiya.

She got within touching distances of the Sannin. Her very breath was hot and intense enough to burn Jiraiya's skin. She grabbed the pervert by his collar and glared at him with a piercing look.

Then it began. Jiraiya's girly screams echoed throughout Konoha for an hour as Tsunade broke every bone in his body.

**Three hours later**

After a surgery, Jiraiya's whole body was bandaged. He looked like a mummy more than anything. Despite having every bone in his body broken more than 10 times by Tsunade, he always made a speedy recovery. Something that surprised even Tsunade, as she could not explain how it came to be. So despite his condition, in a few days he would be out there doing his research.

''Explain everything to me Jiraiya!'' Tsunade barked impatiently staring at the Sannin.

''I already told you.'' Jiraiya stated with a sigh. His body still hurt because of the beating he received. ''We booked a hotel in a town just three days a walk away from Konoha. I told him to stay at the hotel while I went to meet up with my spy contact. When I returned he was gone along with his travelling documents.'' Jiraiya explained everything.

Tsunade sighed, given how the condition in which Naruto left the village; it was believable that he would run away from Jiraiya. From what she had heard, Naruto was crafty enough to run away without a trace. But she was not going to let Jiraiya off the hook like that. It was his responsibility to make sure that something like that did not happen.

''What have you been doing over the past two years?'' Tsunade asked with narrowed eyes.

''I have been searching for him all over the elemental nations.'' Jiraiya replied looking at the ceiling.

''...and?''

''I was not able to find him, not even a trace.'' The fact that a 13 year old got away from him hurt his pride.

''So that was why you decided to inform me.'' Tsunade stated, ''So if you had found him you would never have told me that he had ran away.'' Tsunade stated accusingly.

Jiraiya smiled nervously. Tsunade knew him better, he would never have told her something like that. She would have freaked out if he did and it was good for his health if he did not.

Tsunade sighed and took a seat beside Jiraiya's bed. ''So you don't know where he is, what he is doing and how he is doing.'' She concluded.

Jiraiya nodded, ''The toads know where he is,'' he said.

''What?'' Tsunade said. ''Then why didn't they tell you?''

''Because Naruto asked them not to,'' Jiraiya replied through gritted teeth. He has been a loyal summoner to the toads and yet they refused to tell him where Naruto was. He was like a senior summoner, and Naruto was just a junior summoner and yet they took the word of Naruto.

''That brat,'' Tsunade muttered bitterly. The fact that Naruto told the toads not to reveal his location meant that he did not want to be found.

''Gamabunta did tell me that he is fine though. By the looks of it, he is training somewhere with someone but I found that hard to believe.''

Tsunade nodded, Naruto could not have someone training him outside Konoha. He did not know any shinobi outside the village. The logical conclusion would be that, he was training on his own with the toads helping him.

''What now?'' Tsunade asked in a defeated tone.

''I will keep looking for him...that is after I get out of this place.'' Jiraiya replied. ''How is it going with Sasuke?'' He asked changing the subject.

''So far so good. Danzou has succeeded in teaching some manners to the brat.'' Tsunade said not showing any interest to what she has just said. ''He has already made jounin and I had Kakashi take over the training. I figured that Kakashi would be a good influence to him.''

Jiraiya nodded, ''I did not expect that his training would excel so fast. It does seem that Danzou's training methods are very effective.'' He commented.

''Yes, it does. Nevertheless, he tends to have his trainees turn into emotionless killing robots. That is why I had Kakashi take over.'' Tsunade replied. She could care less for the Uchiha brat. However, a change in his attitude would make things for her.

''What do you plan to do with him?''

''I plan to have him become an ANBU on temporary bases other than that he will operate like any other jounin,'' Tsunade said getting up from her seat. ''I am going back to the office. Stay here until I clear you, is that clear?'' Tsunade said with a fierce glare at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya nodded and Tsunade proceeded to leave the room. As soon as Tsunade left, Jiraiya made his miraculous recovery. He stripped off his bandages with a few winces and left through the window.

Research awaited him.

**Two years ten months after Naruto left Konoha**

Naruto jumped back avoiding Itachi's punch which crashed into the ground creating a small crater. Naruto dashed towards while the Uchiha's fist was still planted on the ground. He swung his right foot attempting to land a kick on Itachi's face. Itachi sensed the attack and looked up. He positioned both his hands and blocked the Kick. The kick had so much force that it pushed Itachi back, and made him wince. The wince was never shown on his face.

Naruto continued his assault by raising his other foot. He swung it and attempted a roundhouse kick at his opponent. The kick came at Itachi with so much speed than he could not avoid it. His hands were still recovering from Naruto's previous kick. He only managed to bring out one hand to block the kick. It was not enough as the kick sent him flying. Naruto did not give Itachi time to recover as he appeared above Itachi. He applied wind chakra to his fist preparing for a bone cracking punch. He punched Itachi to his chest sending him crashing down like a bullet.

As soon as Itachi hit the ground with a loud crash, Naruto noticed that there was something wrong. Itachi would not have been caught easily. 'Genjutsu?' Naruto thought to himself. He held a single hand seal, ''Kai!'' he muttered and dispelled the illusion.

He sensed something from behind. Spinning around Naruto saw Itachi dashing it him at fast speeds.

Naruto could do nothing as Itachi's knee crashed into his gut. Itachi added to the assault with a powerful punch to Naruto's face. The punch sent Naruto in flight.

Naruto recovered quickly before he hit something and flipped in midair. He landed on the ground in a crouched position before standing up and looking at Itachi impassively.

''You caught me in your genjutsu the moment I appeared above you.'' Naruto stated.

Itachi nodded, ''You are getting good at detecting genjutsu.'' he commented. It was indeed true Naruto had become good at detecting his illusions. When they started training, Naruto did not have any skills at genjutsu. He could be caught in one for the whole day and still not be able to recognize that he had been caught in a genjutsu.

Naruto said no word any further. There was no need for him to say anything. He got into his taijutsu stance and prepared to face Itachi once again.

Both opponents ran towards each other and clashed in between. Itachi attempted a high roundhouse kick at Naruto. Naruto saw the attack coming and crouched down, dogging Itachi's kick. He spun around and attempted a leg sweep on Itachi. Itachi was too experience to be caught by something like that. Thus he jumped up avoid Naruto's leg sweep.

While still in flight, Itachi flashed through hand seals, gathering enough chakra for his jutsu. **''Fire Style: Great Fireball**!'' A large fireball expelled from Itachi's mouth and raced down at Naruto who was still in a crouched position. The flames hit a Naruto and consumed him before dying down.

Itachi was on alert knowing that something like that would not put Naruto down despite him firing the jutsu at a close range. He was not disappointed as Naruto charged at him from behind. He quickly spun around to block a kick aimed at his head. Another Naruto appeared behind Itachi and threw a number of shurikens at the Uchiha's back. The Naruto that had attempted to kick Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi realized that it had been just a distraction. He quickly used a replacement technique to avoid the shurikens that were of no doubt doing to pierce his back. A log appeared in his place, taking the hits that were meant for him.

Naruto narrowed his eyes searching for Itachi. He did not have to wait long as a bundle of shurikens flew towards him at high speed. Naruto gathered the wind around him and mixed it with his own chakra.

**''Wind Release: Wind Palm**!'' Gusts of winds sped towards the shurikens. The two attacks met and Naruto's jutsu propelled the shurikens away from Naruto. The gusts of wind continued to make their way towards Itachi who simply leaped away.

Naruto went through a number of hand signs. As he did that, the wind around him turned into at least 20 wind shurikens that that where spinning around him. **''Wind Release: Wind Shuriken!''**

The wind shurikens sped at the unmoving form of Itachi. He knew that the shurikens where sharp and could leave a few gashes should they hit him. He had seen the attack before, and it would be nasty if he were to be hit. As soon as the wind shurikens got into touching distance with Itachi, he disappeared in a burst of crows. Naruto cancelled his technique and looked to where Itachi had disappeared.

**''Fire Release: Phoenix Flower**!'' A number of fireballs sped at Naruto. Naruto looked at the fireballs a few thoughts running through his head. He was trying to run how the scenario would end up. Itachi always often used the jutsu as a distraction and there was always a secondary attack hidden within the flames. Naruto could not really conclude what Itachi was hoping he would do.

Naruto shrugged off his thoughts and went through several hand signs. After the hand signs, he clasped his hands together and released a wave of chakra. **''Sealing art: Chakra Barrier**!'' Naruto muttered as a barrier erected around him. The barrier was Orange taking the color of Naruto's chakra. It did not cover a wide area it did just enough to shield Naruto. The fireballs hit the barrier but were unable to break through the barrier.

Itachi sighed slightly and went through a set of hand seals. **''Fire Style: Dragon Breath**!'' Itachi expelled a jet stream of hot and intense flames towards Naruto. The flames sped towards Naruto with amazing speed.

Naruto just stood unmoving inside his barrier. He was concentrating on keeping his barrier active. Itachi's jutsu crashed into Naruto's barrier. The flames covered Naruto's entire front trying to break through the barrier. Naruto held on without wavering on his barrier. The barrier strength was determined by the amount of chakra he put on it. If he put more chakra on it, the barrier would be stronger. Naruto called it chakra barrier because nothing that had chakra could penetrate through it, depending on the chakra Naruto put to reinforce it. That did not mean that physical attacks could just pass through it though. With enough physical force it would break. Despite its resistance, the barrier drained too much chakra depending on the kind of attack hit it. Naruto also could not attack because what was inside the barrier stayed inside the barrier and what was outside stayed outside. Naruto also had to concentrate on keeping the barrier active.

The flames died down, clearing the path for Naruto to see Itachi. Naruto deactivated the barrier and charged at Itachi.

They engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle that ignited sparks around the small training ground. Naruto was faster than Itachi, but Itachi had the Sharingan to predict Naruto's attack. This only made the battle even fierce than it had been as none let their guard down. Punches and kicks where thrown at one another, which were each being either blocked or dodged.

...well that was before Itachi suddenly blurred out of sight and appeared behind Naruto, and positioned a kunai on his neck. Itachi was alarmed when he felt a sudden rise of chakra from Naruto. The 'Naruto' suddenly exploded to gusts of winds. The explosion caught Itachi, giving him multiple cuts on his front and sending him flying away.

Itachi recovered quickly and flipped twice before landing on the ground on his feet. The moment he landed, he felt a spike of chakra from Naruto. The said blond appeared in front of Itachi with a Rasengan on his right hand. **''Rasengan!''** Naruto yelled as he tried slamming the **Rasengan** on Itachi's gut. Itachi was saved by his experience by leaping sideways from the attack. Naruto missed Itachi and his **Rasengan** slammed the ground creating an explosion. The explosion was just a testimony to the power of the** Rasengan.** As the lifted debris cleared, a rather large crater was formed in the middle of the training ground and Naruto was standing still in the middle of the crater, panting slightly.

Itachi stood not far away from Naruto, his clothes tattered because of the explosive clone that hit him, but he was otherwise okay if not counting his slightly labored breathing.

''Okay, I think this is enough.'' Itachi said calling the spar to a halt before Naruto destroyed the training ground with his jutsu's. Yes, each time the sparred Naruto always destroyed the training ground with his destructive jutsu's. Itachi had banned Naruto from using some of his destructive jutsu's in the training ground. It was not that he was afraid the someone nearby would sense their chakra-there was a barrier surrounding the hideout. It made it impossible for anyone to sense the chakra inside the barrier-no, he was just tired to having to repair the training ground each time Naruto destroyed it.

Naruto nodded and dusted himself. He walked over to a tree and took a meditative pose to relax his body after the spar. It was always good to relax and recover the chakra spent. As Naruto did his meditating, Itachi went back to the house.

**The following day**

Naruto was lying under the tree with eyes closed. He was enjoying the breeze that washed over him. It was not everyday that he could relax and not think about training. He could now relax as he was proud of what he has achieved so far on his training. He could relax because of that, but that did not mean he no longer took training seriously. He still trained as hard as he could, breaking a few bones if he could.

Itachi walked over to Naruto and sat down beside the blond with a rather serious look on his face. Naruto had sensed him but did not bother to open his eyes.

''I want to tell you two important things, Naruto-kun.'' Itachi said looking at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, to look at Itachi but he never got up, remained as he was. This action was enough to tell Itachi he could speak.

''The first thing I want to talk to you is about the Akatsuki and my reasons for departure.'' Itachi stated without a hint of emotion.

Naruto looked at Itachi with slightly narrowed eyes. Itachi never spoke about the Akatsuki, neither did he bother to ask. He had always assumed that there was a story behind Itachi's defection from the criminal organization.

''The Akatsuki no longer exists,'' Itachi stated bluntly. He did not need to go to Konoha and come back to say it. He was a straightforward person and did not have the patience to go around circles to say something.

If Naruto was shocked by the news, he hid it well. The only reaction he gave was a raised eyebrow. Despite not showing it outwardly, the news was a surprise to him.

''Why?'' Naruto asked nonchalantly.

''The leader and the figurehead, Pein of the organization where fighting for the leadership of the organization. Pein did not like where the real leader of the organization was taking things and some of the decision he was making, thus it resulted in a dispute.'' Itachi paused for a moment.

Naruto simply listened on as Itachi spoke. He was truly surprised by the revelation. Never had he thought that Akatsuki had two leaders. The fallout was predictable. The leaders had to be stronger than the rest of the Akatsuki members to lead the organization. It meant that between them, there were some massive egos and each of them would want to asset their superiority over the other. If Pein felt that the real leader was no longer worthy of being leader, he would try to remove him.

''The dispute resulted in a major battle that took place in Ame, where Akatsuki was based. The battle between the two resulted in half on Amegakure being destroyed. Pein killed the real leader in the battle. Due to the strain caused by the battle on his body, he was left on the verge on death. But before he died he revived everyone in Ame-the leader excluded-who was killed because the battle'' Itachi stated. He himself had not seen the battle but he had seen the aftermath. The destruction was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was beyond what a Kage could do. When he had seen the destruction that was in Ame, he could not deny that the figurehead of Akatsuki, Pein, was right when he did say he was a God. The villagers of Ame were correct to call the man a God. He did not believe that the man held such strength, he believed it when he saw the destruction.

''With the leaders being dead, that would cause the members to disband.'' Naruto commented seeing how it would end up. Followers followed their leader, and if the leader was no more, then they would follow their own path.

''Yes. However, some that had become friends chose to remain together to continue their lives as wanted S-rank criminals.'' Itachi stated, his calm look never fading away.

Naruto nodded, ''So you chose to leave your teammate, leaving the other members to do what they wanted to do,'' he said.

''Yes, as I told you I was interested in you, thus I left him and it all ended up here.'' Itachi replied with a nod. After Naruto had left Konoha with Jiraiya, the choices that were made, led to the events that had occurred.

''Right now, there are 5 or 6 former Akatsuki members running loose within the elemental nations.'' Naruto stated. They were to surely run loose around the villages given that they no longer followed orders of Akatsuki. Akatsuki did things professional and hid well their activities, eluding unwanted attention. Now that them no longer with Akatsuki they were to act like loose cannons, doing criminal activities after the other…that is if they not smart.

''Yes. Now without the Akatsuki, jinchuriki's won't be targeted anymore.''

Naruto nodded. That was some good news. He would no longer have to worry what the Akatsuki coming after him for the Kyuubi. This meant that all jinchuriki's were now safe. ''That is some good news,'' he said. ''What happened to Amegakure?''

''The figurehead leader of Akatsuki, Pein was the leader of the village after having defeated Hanzou. He had a partner named Konan. From what I know, she has known him since they were just children. She is now the leader of Amegakure.''

Naruto nodded, ''What was really the goal of Akatsuki?'' Naruto asked wondering why the organization would want with the power of nine bijuu's. With that kind of power in the hands of criminals, nothing good would be achieved.

Itachi shook his head, ''Even I do not know why bijuu's were being gathered. Nevertheless, what I do know is that Pein desired peace along with his partner Konan. They wanted peace through the power of all nine bijuu's combined.'' He could never figure out what Madara was planning with the use of the bijuu's. He had tried everything to find what the man wanted with bijuu's. Still this to this day it is a mystery to him.

''I wonder what kind of peace the man would have brought with the power of all the bijuu's,'' Naruto stated more to himself than to Itachi.

''It was nothing good,'' Itachi said. After a few moments of silence he spoke again. ''The second important thing I want to tell you is a secret that you cannot reveal to anyone. Even I was not supposed to tell anyone, but I feel that you deserve to know the truth. Some of the dark things about Konoha.'' Itachi stated in a rather serious tone.

Naruto got up and leaned against the tree. He looked at Itachi for a moment. Sure they trusted each other, but he did not think that Itachi would go as far as to reveal secrets that he had sworn not to reveal. The secret Itachi wanted to tell him was making him curious as to what it may be.

''Only three people in Konoha of know of it. Shimura Danzou, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, these three are from the council. The Sandaime was aware of the secret by he is dead now.'' Itachi stated keeping his serious tone. ''There is no record of it anywhere in Konoha.''

Naruto now was even more curious than he had been before. It was written all over his face. Itachi was involved with the Sandaime and members of the council. He was curious, very curious.

''So, not even the ANBU commander, Jiraiya or the Hokage are aware of it.'' Naruto commented.

Itachi nodded. ''What I am about to tell you is the secret behind the Uchiha massacre.'' Naruto was now leaning a bit close to Itachi-figuratively-so that he would not miss a word Itachi was going to say.

''I did not massacre my clan because I wanted to test my strength or anything. It was because I was ordered to.'' Itachi revealed.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly before they returned to normal after a second of widening. That was the best reaction one could get from Naruto.

''Why?'' Naruto asked a question that anyone would have asked after hearing what he had heard.

''My clan was planning a coup d'état to take over the village. The Sandaime tried peace talks between the village and my clan, but the talk just reached an impasse. I was ordered to massacre my clan to save the village from a civil war that would have destroyed it.'' Itachi stated impassively.

Naruto stared at Itachi for a moment. He could not believe that Konoha would do something like that. Ordering the extermination of the whole clan was just unthinkable. He could not believe that the Sandaime would allow something like that to occur even though the peace talks had reached an impasse.

''Why did your clan plan a coup d'état?''

''It was because they felt that they were losing power in Konoha. The clan had been secluded from the rest of the village, they also held no real power in Konoha, thus they felt that they were wanted out of the village their former leader had taken part in establishing.''

Naruto felt like he could understand what they were feeling. The Uchiha clan and the Senju clan were the two clans that formed Konoha. It could be depicted that way since Uchiha Madara, head clan of the Uchiha clan at the time and Senju Hashirama, leader of the Senju clan formed joined hands and formed Konoha. At the time of the massacre, the Uchiha clan, were reduced to be nothing but police officers with no real power. They deserved more than what Konoha was offering them.

However, regardless of that planning a coup d'état was not a way to do things.

''After the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, the village started to think that the Uchiha clan was behind the attack. With that thought, the Uchiha clan lost trust of the villagers and most tended to avoid clan members.'' Itachi added.

Naruto remembered when Itachi had told him that a Sharingan had been thought to be manipulating the Kyuubi to attack the village. The Sharingan is a doujutsu belonging to the Uchiha clan, it was given that it the thought that the Kyuubi was being manipulated they would look at the Uchiha clan.

''It did not help the matter since there was no Uchiha who had turned rogue at the time. Blame would be on the Uchiha clan.'' Naruto stated. After saying that a small smile crept to his face making Itachi raise a brow. Naruto was obviously amused by something.

''The villagers thought that the Kyuubi was being manipulated by someone. Yet they continued to hate it for the rampage while simultaneously blaming the Uchiha for its rampage. If they believed that it was being controlled by someone. Why did they continue to hate it when they believed that it was just a puppet in the whole matter?'' Naruto stated. ''They have no standing point, they say it was a puppet and yet they continue to hate it. If they were smart, they would have concluded that the Kyuubi was not to blame for the attack since it was merely being used.''

Itachi nodded. Not many people saw things the way Naruto did. Even though Konoha thought the Kyuubi was just a puppet they continued to hate it as if it was its was its decision to attack. Everyone who saw the bijuu attack the village knew that it appeared in a puff of smoke, which meant one thing, it was summoned to Konoha. If it had been a person to have done it, they would not have hated the person as much as they did the Kyuubi. Their minds just could not afford to let the Kyuubi go because it was not human. To them it was a demon of mass destruction that almost destroyed their village, albeit being manipulated to do so per their belief.

''You are taking this better than I had anticipated.'' Itachi commented on how Naruto was not judging him for anything.

''I had my suspicions after getting to understand you.'' Naruto replied with a shrug. ''It must have been hard for you to kill your own parents.'' Naruto stated eyeing Itachi.

''Yes it was.'' Itachi replied with no hint of emotion on his tone nor his face. Naruto was not expecting any from the stoic Uchiha.

''Why was Sasuke sparred?''

''I could not kill him.'' Itachi replied simply.

Naruto closed his eyes. He had thought as much, Itachi loved his brother. From what he knew so far, Itachi did not regret taking Choice to wipe out his clan. Konoha meant more to him than his own clan.

''You don't want Sasuke to find out about such information knowing how he might react. And you want him to kill you, avenging your clan while also cleaning the blood of the Uchiha clan on your hands.'' Naruto stated getting up, eyes still closed. ''I will keep it to myself...and thank you for trusting me with such information.'' He said and walked away from Itachi. He wanted to begin work on a few seals that he had yet to complete.

Itachi smiled slightly seeing Naruto walk away. He was glad to have met someone like him. Someone with a kind heart, understanding and trustworthy. Naruto was unlike anyone he had ever seen in his life. He had a kind heart like his father, genius with seals but there was something that he could not place a finger on that made him different from his father. They were alike in so many ways but there was something in Naruto that made them different.

The Sandaime have been kind a peaceful man during his lifetime especially during his old age days. But he was nothing like Naruto. There was no one in the world that was like Naruto. He had met many people but none of them were like Naruto.

He was lucky to have seen that and take the boy under him and nature him to be what he was now. Jiraiya had been a fool by not taking training Naruto seriously. He had no qualms with the man, in fact he respected him. Jiraiya was unlike his fellow sannin's. Jiraiya was a peace loving man like the Sandaime Hokage, his sensei. However, with Naruto he had turned a blind eye. Itachi had no doubt he would have natured the blond to be a peace loving person.

Itachi could not give himself all the credit for what Naruto was to become. Naruto was a peaceful person by his own right, he had just yet to realize that fact. In regards to training, it was Naruto's determination to become strong that made them achieve so many things in training. He was just a guide everything else was Naruto.

**A few days later**

**Mount Myouboku**

Naruto suddenly found himself transported to another world. It had been early in the morning when that happened. He looked around where he was and recognized that it was Fukasaku's house. He had been summoned here before when he had requested to be taught Senjutsu. Naruto looked around house and saw Fukasaku and Shima looking at him.

''I was thinking you might no longer call me Fukasaku-sama.'' Naruto stated looking at the toad sage.

''Ma and I, just had a lot of thought about it.'' Fukasaku said with a smile. ''We have decided to train you in Senjutsu. Ma will not be doing anything, I will teach you.'' He said.

Naruto smiled slightly at the news. Though the smile quickly disappeared as if it was never there. ''That is pleasing to know.'' He said.

''Pa, I will go get some food for Naruto-chan. He has to taste my delicious food before he begins his training.'' Shima said looking at her husband.

Fukasaku just nodded, he did not want to deal with his wife now. Naruto was more important.

''Follow me Naruto-chan.''

Naruto crouched out of the small house and followed Fukasaku. They went to a clearing, which had statues of large toads. Naruto just walked over enjoying the cool breeze that washed over him. The air around him was enjoyable and not the same as the air he breathed at the hideout. The air at village of the toads felt natural.

Fukasaku ordered Naruto to sit down while he stood staring at the blond with a serious look on his face.

''Before I even begin to teach you Senjutsu you have to know the risks.'' He said making Naruto raise a brow. ''Learning Senjutsu requires you to absorb chakra from nature and balance it with your own, physical and spiritual energy. The chakra you absorb from nature is extremely powerful. Absorbing too much of the chakra or not having too much control of the chakra will turn you into one of those.'' He said pointing at the statues that seemed to decorate the area.

Naruto was certainly not expecting something like that to be as the risk of learning Senjutsu. Itachi had said Senjutsu was powerful. Naruto now could conclude that nothing of great power did not come easy to achieve. Nevertheless, for great power to be achieved one had to deal with the risks.

''Do you still want to train even when knowing that you can die?'' Fukasaku asked.

''Yes. I have never been the one to back down from anything.'' Naruto replied with a small smile recalling his old self.

Fukasaku smiled, ''I thought you might say something like that.'' He then instructed Naruto to sit beside a waterfall. That was what Naruto thought, but it was not actually water that was flowing but oil.

''To be able to absorb natural energy, you must be able to be one with nature, feel nature, hear nature.'' He said as Naruto took a meditative pose. ''Getting in touch with nature should be easy for given that you meditate a lot.'' He said.

''Is it possible to train somewhere else in the elemental nations other than here?'' Naruto asked.

Fukasaku nodded, ''Yes. However, due to the risks you have to train here. This oil helps you to absorb nature chakra easily. It is only found here and cannot be found anywhere.'' He said the poured the oil on Naruto.

''When you absorb too much chakra I will hit you with this.'' He said as a black stick suddenly appeared on his hand. ''This stick will force natural chakra out of your body when the process of purification begins.''

With those things said, Naruto began his Senjutsu training with the toad sage. Fukasaku wanted Naruto to begin as soon as possible so he could perfect the training before he has to return to Konoha. Jiraiya had never perfected the training, even when it had taken a year to train. In fact, the toad had concluded that it was impossible for the Sannin. It would explain why Jiraiya had never bothered coming back to Myoubokuzan to perfect the training. Jiraiya could not enter sage mode on his own, which made his sage mode imperfect. Naruto was different from Jiraiya. Naruto had more chakra than Jiraiya did when he learned Senjutsu. To be able to perfect Senjutsu you had to have large amounts of chakra reserves that Naruto had.

**That day**

It was already noon and Itachi had yet to see Naruto. It was unlike Naruto to disappear without a warning. Mostly if he did go somewhere, it would be at the Valley of the End to meditate. He never left without saying a word. Not that Itachi was worried for the blond. He knew that Naruto could take care of himself. Burying himself in his thoughts, Itachi decided to just wait and see.

A toad appeared in a puff of smoke in the middle of the training. It was big as him. He quickly recognized the toad as Gamakichi, Naruto usually summoned the toad to give a report on how he was doing, and how far he was progressing with his training.

Gamakichi saw Itachi sitting comfortably under a tree and jumped over to him. **''I was sent to tell you that Naruto was reverse summoned to Mount Myouboku. He won't be returning for a while** **now. The elders have agreed to teach him Senjutsu**.'' Gamakichi said and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. He did not like staring at the eyes-Sharingan-of Itachi. It unnerved, the man never smiled. He would come back later during the day and fetch the things Naruto had requested.

Naruto had requested that the elders teach him Senjutsu after Itachi had told him that Jiraiya used Senjutsu and was very powerful when using Senjutsu. Naruto had made the request a about a month ago seeing that there was nothing else Itachi could teach him. What was left was just to perfect his jutsu arsenal and fuinjutsu.

'It should take him a couple of months to learn Senjutsu.' Itachi thought to himself. He would have the whole time to himself, to do other things with Naruto gone. It had been over 2 years since he left the area close to the hideout. He had always stayed there, as he did not need anything to outside the hideout. He could go outside the see what villages have been up to and what his former Akatsuki comrades where doing with their time.

**A month and a half later**

Naruto appeared at the Uchiha hideout in a puff of smoke. He had completed his Senjutsu training far faster than Fukasaku had anticipated, even Shima was surprised. The two great toad sages were very surprised given that Jiraiya learned senjutsu for over a year and was still unable to perfect it. But Naruto was able to perfect his sage mode under a month. He stayed at the land of the toads to train more in wind manipulation and seals. The atmosphere at Mount Myouboku was perfect for him to train further his control over the wind element.

Naruto walked calmly towards the house. Training at the land of the toads had been rather harsh to his body, but it was nothing he was not used to. His body had worked overtime; right now he just needed to rest.

Itachi raised a brow upon seeing Naruto. ''I took little time than I had anticipated.'' Itachi stated.

''That is what the toads said,'' Naruto replied. ''I'm going to rest.'' He said and walked to his room.

Itachi raised another brow. It must have been a harsh training he had gone through to look for rest after just returning.

**Two days later**

Naruto sat comfortably under a tree doing nothing in particular he had rested enough. Right now he was just resting his mind for a bit. It had worked over time while he was at Mount Myouboku. His body had rested physically, but for his mind to compute at its full potential he needed to allow it to rest a bit more before going back to working it overtime again.

Itachi walked over to Naruto holding a small storage scroll. Naruto noticed the Uchiha's presence and looked up to him.

''I have something to give you, Naruto-kun,'' Itachi stated. ''I collected it while you were gone.'' He said handing over the scroll he held to Naruto.

Naruto took the scroll and opened it. He channeled chakra on the seal to summon whatever that was sealed inside the scroll. In a puff of smoke, a sword appeared in a sheath. It was not just any sword it was a sword sparkling with electricity. It was **The Sword of the Flying Thunder God**, the blade of the Nidaime Hokage.

Naruto looked at Itachi with the blade firmly on his hands. He had the widest smile Itachi had ever seen from the blond. Naruto was happy. No, he was overjoyed by what Itachi had given him. He felt happy more than the time Iruka gave him his headband. The sword was his first gift given to him by someone else. He could not count the necklace Tsunade gave him as he had won it over their bet.

He opened his mouth and said three words that almost made the stoic Uchiha Itachi give a foxy grin.

''Thank you Nii-san.''

**I bet no one was expecting Itachi's revelation huh? I wanted to try something that did not include Obito and Nagato chasing jinchuriki's. **

**Yeah, I know I did not show much of Naruto's skills. You will see them when the story does go on. Next chapter Naruto returns to Konoha.**

**Chakra chains huh? Will see.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Chapter 4 Home**

A lone figure walked calmly towards the large gates of the village hidden in leaves. He was wearing a long red short-sleeved coat with flame patterns at the gemline and high collars. At the back of the coat, there was a kanji for Toad Sage. Beneath the coat he wore black shinobi pants, short-sleeved black shirt, black shinobi boots and black fingerless gloves. He wore a metal plate as an armour on his chest. A sword was strapped on his back. His attire was complemented with a straw hat that hid his face.

Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, the two eternal gate guards were having a rather boring day. There had been no visitor for the day. The people that had been entering the village were a few teams that were returning from their missions. They liked it when new people came into the village for touring or just visiting.

''Izumo, there is someone coming.'' Kotetsu said looking at the lone figure heading towards the gates.

''Yeh I can see him,'' Izumo replied.

''Who do you think it might be?''

''I don't know. Haven't seen anyone wearing something like that before.'' Izumo replied with a shrug.

The figure walked closer to the gates making the two guards to stand up as they waited for him to arrive. He was walking at a rather slow pace like he was in no hurry.

''Halt!'' Kotetsu said in a rather loud and commanding voice.

''State your business!'' Izumo commanded the other part of their normal sequence for when someone new enters the village.

''Returning,'' the figure replied simply.

''State your name!''

The figure lifted up his straw hat revealing his face. He had spiky blonde hair, deep blue eyes. His hair framed both sides of his face.

''Naruto Namikaze,'' He said placing back his hat.

The two-chunin guards widened their eyes upon the mention of the name. Without the whisker marks they would have said it was the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto looked exactly like the Yondaime. If someone was to say that he was the Yondaime they would not have denied the claim.

At the same time they were happy that Naruto had returned to the village. It had been three long years since they last saw him. They had missed seeing him grinning like a fox and shouting something about being great and surpassing someone.

Kotetsu was the first to get out of his stupor, ''Naruto, it's good to see you again,'' He said with a genuine smile. ''The village has never been the same without you.''

''Hey Kotetsu, did I hear correctly? He said Namikaze Naruto right?'' Izumo asked after Naruto had walked away from the two.

''Huh?''

''You were not listening. He did not say Uzumaki Naruto. He said Namikaze Naruto.''

''Is he related to the Yondaime Hokage?''

''I don't know. But with the way he looks I would not disagree if someone said he was the Yondaime's son.''

Naruto walked past the two-chunin guards. He was in no hurry to report to the Hokage that he had returned. He just wanted to see what how the village was. He never cared for information on the events occurring within the village while he was training.

As he walked around the streets of Konoha, several villagers where staring at him trying to figure who he was. The whispers began to resonate around as he walked.

Naruto looked around Konoha. It was still the same as it was when he left. Nothing had changed, the air was still the same. The villagers were still smiling and gossiping in groups like they always did when he was not walking around. Konoha was still the same lively place as it had been when he left. He could see that the village recovered well after the Sand/Sound invasion.

It was his home. He loved Konoha, despite its treatment towards him. The village was his home and nothing would change that. He was born here and he would be buried within the village.

Naruto looked at the Hokage monument. It had been his favorite spot when he was younger. The place gave him a sense of peace since when he was there no one would be staring at him with hateful glares. It was his comfort zone. Looking at the faces of the Hokage's, Naruto could not help but smile slightly. The past four Kages had been great Hokage's, both in power and mind. The Nidaime, Sandaime and Yondaime, all died protecting the village. That was a mark of a Kage. Laying your life for the sake of the village which you lead, and have sworn to protect.

Konoha has been truly blessed to have had such great leaders as the five at the Hokage monument.

The Shodaime was hailed as the God of shinobi for his power. The man was powerful indeed, yet a peace loving person. The Shodaime tried to unite the world during his time, but his attempts failed miserably. He tried making the villages equals by capturing bijuu's and handing over to them. He had hopes that if each village had a bijuu it would stabilize things and each villager would see other as equal. However, that never occurred as villagers saw each other as nothing but rivals.

The Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama. He was the brother to Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage. The Nidaime was a serious man and took no nonsense. He was the best manipulator of water element. He was the only person to be able to create water from air molecules. The Nidaime was a powerful man, but not as powerful as his brother. He died during the second shinobi world war, killed by the gold and silver brothers of Kumo.

The Sandaime Hokage; He was referred to as the professor, being that he knew every jutsu in Konoha and was able to perform it at a high level. He was trained by both Hashirama and Tobirama. The Sandaime was wise and a peace loving man. He survived two wars, and was the only Hokage to have served two terms. He died in the hands of his own student, snake Sannin Orochimaru. His death was noble as he died fighting for the village during the Sand/Sound invasion.

The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, probably the most famous out of all the Hokage's despite being Hokage for a short period of time. Minato is known all over the elemental nations as Konoha's Yellow Flash. He made his name known during the Third Great Shinobi World War. He was the man responsible for Iwa's loss in the war, which is why even after a decade of his death the village still hates him. Minato was a genius and a seal master. He was the best seal master that Konoha had ever seen. Sadly, despite achieving so much, he died while still being relatively young. His death was also noble as he died sealing the Kyuubi inside his own son. Sealing the Kyuubi inside of his own son was because the said bijuu had gone on a rampage and began to destroy Konoha. No one could fight the almighty Kyuubi, thus the only way to defeat it was to seal it. Today Konoha sees him as her greatest hero.

Now there is Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. She also has fame and a name that carries weight being that she is one of the Three Legendary Shinobi. She is also renown for the skills in medical ninjutsu and is the best medical nin in all the Elemental Nations. She was doing a steady job as Hokage, Naruto could agree with that.

Naruto looked around to see that he was generating a lot of unwanted attention. Villagers where just staring at him as he walked around. He could also sense that ANBU's where watching him. The fact that they were just watching him meant that the gate guards had yet to inform anyone of his presence within the village. But it was just a matter of time before they did and Tsunade would send her ANBU to come and fetch him. With a sigh, Naruto blurred out of sight making everyone who was looking at him look at him to see where he had went. His way of disappearing was nothing flashy. He just disappeared like he was never there to begin with. When the villagers saw that they could no longer see him they just shrugged and went back to what they were doing.

**Hokage monument**

Naruto looked at the peaceful image of Konohagakure no Sato. This peaceful village was a village that his mother and father died protecting. It is a village he had been protecting from the day he was born, Konoha had just yet to be aware of that fact. The Namikaze family have given everything for this village. His father died in the sealing of the Kyuubi. His mother had been a jinchuriki of the Kyuubi since her younger days. Both where heroes.

Konoha is what is today because of their sacrifice. Had they not make the sacrifice they made, Konoha would have burned down to the ground since there would have been no one powerful enough to stop the Kyuubi. This peace, this sense of security that Konoha now has was because of his family. Even he, who was made a human sacrifice to contain the Kyuubi had done just as much as his parents did. Had it not been for his mental stability the Kyuubi would have broken out of the seal and finish what it started. But he held on, despite being a social outcast. His mind remained stable and he held the Kyuubi back in its cage. Konoha was safe because of his life.

Uzumaki and Namikaze, both have sacrificed more than anyone within the village. All Uzumaki to have lived within the village where jinchuriki's. They were made to bear the beast of hatred within them. Today he being the last Uzumaki in Konoha and possibly the world, carries the Kyuubi within him following the path of his predecessors. Being Uzumaki, he also had Namikaze blood flowing in his body. His father, the only known Namikaze before him, had been the leader of the village, and died being the leader of the village.

With all the sacrifices and the pain and loneliness he has had to endure, it would be a shame to allow all that to be for nothing by not stepping up as the protector of the village. He was born to be a protector of Konoha, guardian of the village and he would take on that mantle proudly. It was his place to ensure that Konoha was safe, and in peace, as a Namikaze, Uzumaki and third jinchuriki of the Kyuubi.

Naruto let loose of a sigh as he sensed several chakra signatures coming his way. He figured Tsunade must have been alerted of his return to the village. ANBU would just try to asset their authority over him. He had no doubt they would try to take him to the Hokage's office by force even if he said he wanted to see the village a bit more. With that in mind, Naruto disappeared from the Hokage's monument.

Naruto looked at the tallest building in Konoha, the Hokage's tower. Kages of each village always stayed at the tallest tower within a village. It made it easy to target them, not that anyone would be stupid enough to attack them given that they are the strongest in the village they lead.

Naruto entered the Hokage's tower, still wearing his straw hat. He just decided to walk as it had been long since he breathed the air inside the tower. Today was still the day of his return, in the next few days he would have seen everything inside the village.

Naruto bumped into someone after passing-by a corner. He had been engrossed with his thoughts that he did not sense anyone. The person who hit him fell back because Naruto had stood still like a wall. But his hat was knocked off his head. Naruto leaned down to pick it up before looking at the person who bumped into him.

It was a light-skinned woman, with long, shoulder-length untamed black hair, he had unique red eyes. By her dress and eyes, Naruto quickly recognized the woman as Team 8's sensei, Yuhi Kurenai.

''Sorry about that.'' Naruto said stretching out his arm to help her get up.

Kurenai just stared at Naruto for a few moments. She would have screamed Yondaime-sama if it were for the fact that the Yondaime was a dead man.

''Naruto...?'' Kurenai said in a whisper as she took Naruto's hand. His grip was firm as she took his hand.

Naruto nodded slightly before placing his hat back to its rightful place. Kurenai continue to examine Naruto's appearance. He had grown wonderfully well, since she last saw him. Naruto began to walk forward passing the woman.

Kurenai realized that she was staring when Naruto walked past her. She turned around to see him before disappear past a corner. A thought came into her mind as he she realized that Naruto had been missing from the village for three years now.

'Hinata will be so happy when she finds out about this.' Kurenai thought knowing about the Hyuuga heir's infatuation with Naruto. 'Although it does seem like she will have some competition.' Another thought crept into her mind.

Kurenai shrugged off her thoughts before she could think of how handsome he looked. She turned around and walked away.

Naruto walked past the receptionist without saying a word to the woman. Tsunade was expecting him, thus there was no need to check in with her if he could enter the office.

Unfortunately, the young lady did not have the same thoughts with him. ''Hey! You can't just walk in there!'' She yelled out.

''The Godaime is expecting me.'' Naruto replied without turning back to look at the young lady.

''I don't know that! Before you go inside the Hokage's office you must check with me if she's free or not!'' This time the receptionist was now standing up.

Naruto continued to walk away from the woman. She was rather loud, he had enough of loud female's. Sakura was already enough, he did not another one.

Hokage's office

Naruto knocked into the office of the Godaime Hokage. He stood patiently waiting for an answer.

''Enter!'' A voice responded behind the door.

Naruto entered the office and stood still. There were three people inside the office. He took off his straw hat allowing the people to see his face.

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune could only stare at the figure in front of them with wide eyes. Naruto had really grown, and his body was built well. All that baby fat on his face was gone, and the deep blue eyes and shoulder-length spiky blond hair made him look like the Yondaime Hokage. Clothes he wore were not something they had expected him to be wearing. All three were expecting to see orange, but there was none of it. What was standing in front of them was a true shinobi.

They had been expecting him, after the gate guards alerted them of his presence within the village. Tsunade had immediately instructed an ANBU squad to go look for him.

Naruto eyed Jiraiya, he had expected the man to be in Konoha given that he was due to return today. Jiraiya would be eager to see him after he had abandoned the Sannin.

''I have returned from my training trip Tsunade-sama.'' Naruto stated looking straight at Tsunade.

That was a shocker. His words had not mock respect no sarcasm, they were just respectful and his tone was down and calm. Naruto had never addressed Tsunade as Tsunade-sama, it was always 'Baa-chan' or 'Old hag'.

The room was met with silence before Tsunade exploded, shrugging off the fact that Naruto had addressed her name with -Sama.

She rose up from her chair behind her desk and slammed both her hands to her desk, giving it cracks. Her reaction caused the other two in the room to tense. ''What were you thinking running away from Jiraiya? Did you forget that the Akatsuki where after you? What if something might have happened to you after your little stunt? That was a stupid thing for you to do Naruto!'' Tsunade ranted out anger clear in her voice. ''Do you know what you put me through after Jiraiya told me that you had abandoned him? Do you know many drinks I drank after I learned of your stunt(Not that she regretted the drinks she had) I was very worried about you and your safety!'' She was not coming down as she continued to yell at the blond.

Naruto however, remained as he was as if her anger was nothing to him. He did not tense or flinch at the tone of her voice or anger. He just continued looking straight at her.

''I am going to make you pay for making me worry about you!'' Tsunade yelled as she short towards Naruto like a bullet. She appeared in front of him with a chakra enhanced fist speeding towards his face.

Both Jiraiya and Shizune tensed, knowing that it was not going to end pretty for Naruto. No one dodged Tsunade's punches. Well not because they could not, but because she was the Hokage and dodging them would only infuriate her further. An infuriated Tsunade was not someone you wanted to deal with.

When Tsunade's fist was just an inch away from Naruto's face, he side stepped at a rather fast speed. He had his left hand stretched out, it was placed of Tsunade's large bust. Naruto had avoided trying to block the attack knowing how powerful Tsunade's punches were. His hand on Tsunade's bust was for support so that the woman did not hit the ground to her momentum.

Shizune and Jiraiya were shocked to see Naruto dodge Tsunade's punch. One who was shocked more was Tsunade. At the speed she appeared in front of him, she was not expecting him to dodge. Also, Naruto had never tried to dodge her punches.

Jiraiya then noticed where Naruto's hand was placed. He grinned perversely, ''Lucky brat I have never gone that far.'' Jiraiya muttered under his breath.

Everybody heard his words.

Jiraiya's words snapped Tsunade out of her thoughts. She realized that Naruto's hand was on her bust. It was supporting her so she could not fall, thus she could feel it well on her bust. She looked at Naruto who had a slightly amused expression on his face.

Tsunade had the decency to blush as she realized the situation she was in. She quickly got her bearings and walked away from Naruto without another word. She went back to sit on her chair behind her desk. She opened a drawer and took out a bottle of sake before downing it.

Naruto raised a brow when he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He looked to see Shizune staring at him as if she was lost in her own world of imaginations.

Shizune realized she was caught staring and looked down. Whether from embarrassment at being caught staring or she was just hiding something. Nobody could really tell why.

''H-hello Naruto-kun,'' she managed to say, her eyes going back to Naruto.

''Shizune...how have been over the past three years?'' Naruto said.

''Well...just a lot of stressing work. You?''

''I have no complains.'' Naruto replied, his tone calm and reserved.

Tsunade cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. She eyed Naruto carefully. He had definitely changed. He was no longer the Naruto she knew. This Naruto was totally different from the Naruto she knew. Putting it accurately, she could say she was the opposite of the Naruto she knew.

''Naruto, its not that I'm not happy to see but you have some explaining to do.'' Tsunade stated in a serious tone. Jiraiya nodded, agreeing with Tsunade. Naruto had a lot of explaining to do.

They all looked at Naruto waiting for him to speak.

''Explain what exactly, Tsunade-sama?'' Naruto asked.

''Why you ran away from Jiraiya. What where you even thinking when you did?'' Tsunade asked with a fierce glare that would make anyone flinch.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya for a moment before looking back at Tsunade. ''I did not run away. I simply left him to clear my head and get some training.'' Naruto replied calmly.

''What do you mean you left him to clear your head and get some training?'' Tsunade asked glaring at Naruto. The reason she had allowed Jiraiya to take Naruto out of the village for the training trip was because she wanted him to clear his mind and get trained by Jiraiya.

''With all due respect, but I thought my words were simple enough for you to understand.'' Naruto said seeing as there was no reason to explain his statement.

''Naruto,'' Tsunade barked intensifying her glare. She leaked some of her killing intent. Shizune had to step away from her master when she started leaking the killing intent. ''Tell. Me. Why. You. Ran. Away. From. Jiraiya. Now!'' Tsunade stated in a tone of authority showing Naruto that she was the Hokage.

Naruto shrugged off Tsunade's killing intent. He could handle worse than the blonde Hokage was giving off. ''As I said, I left Jiraiya because I wanted to get some training done and become strong.''

Before Tsunade could respond, Jiraiya spoke. ''Did you have to leave me? I could have trained you to become strong. I am a Sannin after all.'' He said with narrowed eyes.

Tsunade chose not to say anything, she wanted Naruto to respond to Jiraiya's question.

''Yes,'' Naruto replied. ''You might be a Sannin, but you could have never given me the training I required. To you I would have been third to everything you could do. The first had to be your research, the second had to be your spy network. Am I correct Jiraiya?''

Jiraiya was surprised that Naruto did not call him Ero-sennin. It has always been what Naruto called him ever since their meeting at the hot springs. Naruto had also called him without the respect suffix. Getting over his surprise, Naruto's words began to sink in his head.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Jiraiya who shifted nervously upon seeing the look she was giving him. ''Respond to his words Jiraiya!'' She barked at the Sannin.

''No-no-no...hime you know I would have trained him. I was the one who asked to take him on the training trip after all.'' Jiraiya defended himself.

''Jiraiya, you were going to correct some flaws in my taijutsu, help me with chakra control and teach me how to control the Kyuubi's chakra for all three years. Correct me if I am wrong.'' Naruto stated giving Jiraiya an impassive look.

Tsunade glared at Jiraiya, ''Well...''

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head smiling nervously, ''We...eh...you see...'' If he was being honest, that was all he had planned on teaching Naruto, added with a few variations of the Rasengan.

''Jiraiya I cannot believe that you were going to waste all three years teaching him only those things. You damn pervert I trusted you with him to make him strong!'' Tsunade yelled throwing a stack of papers at Jiraiya.

''Tsunade-sama, you shouldn't-'' Whatever Shizune was going to say, she could not finish as Tsunade sent her a glare to shut her up.

''Your reasons might have been justifiable. But you should not have ran away from Jiraiya. Did you ever pause to think what your friends, what I would think if something was to happen to you because of your foolish decision?'' Tsunade asked not happy with Naruto's choice. She would deal with Jiraiya later, but Naruto needed to know the consequences of his actions.

''No.'' Naruto replied. It was the truth. He did not think of anyone when he made the choice to abandon Jiraiya. He was only thinking about himself, not anyone else.

''...''

''...''

''...''

All three just stared at Naruto. That was something neither had ever thought they would hear from Naruto. Naruto had always put everyone ahead of him when he made his choices. It was safe to say that the blonde lived for other people discarding his own needs.

''You are telling me that you just ran away from Jiraiya without thinking of how those who care for you would feel?'' Tsunade yelled losing her calm look.

''Yes,'' Naruto replied. ''For the first time I placed myself ahead and did what was best for me. Was that so wrong to do?''

Tsunade was taken aback by his question. She had never expected him to say something like that.

''No,'' She replied losing her anger. ''But that does not excuse you for running away from Jiraiya.''

Naruto said nothing.

''Where did you even go after you left Jiraiya? What did you even do?'' Tsunade asked.

''I'm afraid I cannot answer that question Tsunade-sama.'' Naruto stated.

''Naruto,'' Jiraiya said, his face taking a rare serious expression on his face. ''You are going to tell us where you have been for past three years. That is not a request.''

Naruto shook his head, ''Order or not. I cannot answer your question.''

Tsunade slammed her fists on her desk cracking it. Another hit and it was going to break. ''Listen here brat. You are going to tell me where you have been over the past three years. I might have let you off the hook in the past, but this is serious. You will tell me what I want to know or I will make you. Do you understand me?'' Tsunade yelled with a hardened glare at Naruto. She increased her killing intent to a new high to show the blond that she was dead serious. The temperature became tense in the office because of Tsunade's killing intent. The killing intent was enough to make Jiraiya sweat bullets and Shizune find it difficult to breathe.

To the surprise of Tsunade. Naruto was unaffected by her killing intent. He did not even flinch or tense. He simply just shrugged it off like it was nothing.

''All you need to know is that I was at a safe place and I trained to the level I wanted.'' Naruto replied his tone unwavering.

Tsunade stared at Naruto for a minute before she sighed and stopped leaking her killing intent. Naruto was not going to answer her question no matter what she did. The look on his face told her that much.

''Fine,'' She said in a defeated tone. ''At least give me a report on what you trained in.''

Naruto unsheathed his sword. Showing it the occupants in the room. Their eyes widened recognizing the blade.

''Rajiin no Ken/The Sword of the Thunder God.'' Jiraiya muttered looking at the sword.

Naruto placed the sword back to its sheath.

''Where did you get it?'' Tsunade asked knowing that the sword had been missing from Konoha.

''From Aoi Rokushou,'' Naruto replied. It was the half-truth since he was not to took the sword from Aoi. He could not tell them that it was Itachi who gave it to him. ''I trained in kenjutsu and other shinobi arts.'' Naruto stated. ''Now, I believe that is all now. If you need anything from me, I will be at my father's house. I was nice seeing you again, Tsunade-sama, Shizune.'' Naruto stated with a small smile before he disappeared in bright yellow flash.

''...''

''Jiraiya did he just say 'my father's house'?'' Tsunade asked staring at the spot Naruto had been standing.

''Yes he did, hime.'' Jiraiya replied with a dumb expression on his face. ''Hime, did he just disappear in a yellow flash?'' He asked.

''Yes he did, Jiraiya.'' Tsunade replied with a dumb look on her face.

Shizune just watched the two converse in a comical fashion. The expressions of their face were priceless. Had it not been for the implications of the revelations, she would have been rolling on the floor killing herself in laughter.

**A few seconds later**

The house of the Yondaime Hokage-not what Naruto had expected from the house of the most famous Hokage to have ever existed in the Village Hidden in Leaves. He had expected to see a large house worthy and fitting for Konoha's Yellow flash, the man who brought the arrogant Iwagakure to her knees. He was expecting to see something exquisite but what he found was just a normal house. The house was perfect for a normal family. No one would really guess that the Hokage of Konohagakure lived within the house.

Naruto had smiled upon taking a look at the house he had inherited from his parents. It was just a symbol of how humble and simple his parents were. Many who could have been in his father's shoes would have opted for something big and standing out of all the houses in Konoha. But not his parents. Some would have even lived in house big as the Hokage's tower just so people could see that they stood out of everyone in the village. But again, not his parents. Perhaps his parents had made a small home so not to attract too much attention from people. Perhaps that was the case. However, thinking of that, they would not worry about anything since they had ANBU to protect them 24/7. No one would have really attempted to take on the strongest man in Konoha. Regardless of their reasons, the house was perfect for him.

Sighing, Naruto disappeared in a yellow flash after having located a Hiraishin seal within the house.

He appeared in a room that had a large bed-a really large bed. It was definitely his parents' bedroom. There was no doubt that it was the main bedroom. By just looking at the setting of the room, Naruto deduced that much. The room was still in perfect condition. Perhaps the Sandaime had some trusted people to look after the house while he was still alive. That would explain why the room was in good condition. He could take a nap without having to worry about insects jumping on him and taking a bite. That was just how the room was. Perhaps it was the seals that banished anything that might have attempted to eat the house inside out. Anything by now was just assumptions. Not that it mattered anyway. The house was his. There was no one who would dispute that.

A clip invaded Naruto's head. It was him in his younger days. He saw himself busting inside the room catching his father doing something to his mother. And then he screamed ''Tou-san! What are you doing to Kaa-chan?'' both his parents just flushed red in embarrassment before hiding under their blankets. It would be been a funny memory had it been real. It would also be amusing to see how his father would try to explain what he had just seen. Minato Namikaze would definitely be unable to explain himself. Naruto shook his head, deleting the clip. Amusing as it was, having those thoughts was not going to do him any good.

Naruto sat on the bed and shifted his eyes around the room. He smiled sadly seeing the portraits that were hung on the wall within the room. The portraits were truly beautiful. He would not mind gazing on them for a full day. His parents seemed to be truly happy together. They seemed perfect for each other. There was no doubt about that within his head. Naruto's eyes trained on the one that his mother was still pregnant with him. The smiles on both their faces made him shed a tear. He could only guess how happy they must have been knowing that they were expecting their first child. By just looking at the portrait, he could only say ''really happy''. They must have waited patiently for his birth. So that they could see their first product, their joy. A pity they never got the chance to live with him after his birth, they never got to hear his first words or hear him call them ''Kaa-chan'' and ''Tou-san''. Death had taken them away from their beloved the day he was born.

The world had a funny way of operating.

Naruto took his time exploring the house further. He looked at each room that was in the house without missing any. He did not send clones to do it for him, he wanted to do it himself. He wanted to see it with his own eyes, even though the clone's experiences would be brought back to him. The better choice was to do it himself. The house was perfect for him. He could not explain why, but it just was. He felt home, free. Perhaps it was because it was his parents house and he had lived inside the house while he was still inside his mother's womb.

The house had 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, sitting room, library and a basement. The basement was used as a store room for storing weapons amongst other things. The library was full of scrolls and also functioned as his father's home office judging from the chair and desk just beside the window away from the shelves. Naruto had sat down behind the desk and made himself comfortable. The chair felt like it was made just for him; like it was made with him in mind. He looked around the library and marveled at the sheer number of scrolls and books. He doubted he would ever go through all of all of them any time soon. He even wondered if his parents had even read everything in the library.

Perhaps they had stored their knowledge and other people's knowledge for him.

He would certainly save some scrolls for his own children. Especially since he was planning to write his own book. He wanted to write his own book in fuinjutsu, perhaps another about his life. Fuinjutsu would come first though. He was a master in the art, it was his duty to share the knowledge he had with those who sought for it. Also teaching Fuinjutsu was his duty. The Uzumaki clan was known for being masters in the art of sealing. Right now, it was his duty to continue with that tradition. He was already a seal master. Not that he bragged about it; it was just the truth.

A room that had made him shed a few tears was the room with a crib inside. Without any doubt it was the room that was built for him. The crib was made for him. It was the room at which he was supposed to have had nightmares in. He was supposed to let loose of unwanted water inside his body while he was sleeping peacefully inside the crib. A pity he never got the chance to rest on it. Instead he had a cold and lonely bed at the orphanage. He would have wished just for once to enjoy the comfort of the bed his parents had prepared for him. They had made it, but never got the chance to watch him fall asleep inside the little bed they had made.

If he could fit inside the crib, Naruto would have jumped inside and taken a nap. But he was not, he could only enjoy the comfort with his own hands and thoughts. One thing was certain though, he was going to leave the room as it was. Nothing would be changed from the room. Perhaps his own children will enjoy the comfort he never got the chance to enjoy.

What was to be done in the room was cleaning. Speaking of cleaning, **''Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**,'' he breathed out and 20 identical copies of himself popped up into existence. Naruto gave them the orders to clean the house. His clone's could do the trivial staff for him. Naruto himself decided to go to the library/study. He wanted to do everything in the library by himself.

''Complex Fuinjutsu'' Naruto looked at the words and nodded to himself. He had fixed and put everything in place within the library. It had taken him a few hours to do so, but he never complained. In fact, he enjoyed doing the work. In a few hours day will be making way for night. Naruto had decided to use this few hours before night to begin some writing. He wanted some to get some writing done. The clones he had made were still busy doing their chores. They had managed to stay long thanks to the chakra he had given them. One had been sent to buy some groceries since the house had no food given that no one had been taking refuge in it. The clone he had sent was henged as he did not want to come across any of his friends. He would see them tomorrow, today he had to make himself comfortable before announcing his return to his friends.

Without anymore thoughts, Naruto began to write his book for Fuinjutsu masters. He being a master thought it be best to write about some complex seals. He doubted that there was anyone in Konoha who would better him in the art of sealing. Perhaps his talent came from the fact that he had Uzumaki genes running through his body. It was natural for any Uzumaki to be a master in Fuinjutsu, so there was no surprise there. Also, his father had been a genius in seals, perhaps some of that talent was transferred to him. Either way, he was a fine seal master and was not afraid to say it loud.

The first seal he explained in detail was the Hakke no Fuin Shiki. The seal that his father used to seal the Kyuubi within him. Naruto had taken much time to study the seal in detail. He understands everything about it, even the minor details. When he studied the seal by examining the one on his stomach, he found out that Minato had created a key to unlock the seal. The key could either remove the seal or open the gate the to the Kyuubi's cage. Naruto understood that his father had intended for him to use the Kyuubi's chakra.

After having completed the detailed description of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, Naruto began to make notes for another book. This one he called, ''The Journey of a Hero''. He just made a few notes only. He would continue to gather material as he continues to write Complex Fuinjutsu. If someone had said he would be interested in literature in his genin days, he would not have even laughed. He hated reading or writing those days. Even his hand writing was horrible. At least these days it had improved because he was constantly writing something.

Naruto sighed annoyingly, ''How long are you going to watch me,'' he said seemingly to no one.

Jiraiya stepped out of the corner of the study with a sheepish grin, ''You have improved your sensing abilities,'' he said. ''In your genin days you would have remained oblivious to my presence until I got tired of hiding,'' he said with an awkward chuckle. It was not every day that someone caught him while he was hiding. Naruto deserved praise for having noticed his presence.

''Those years I was an idiot trying to play shinobi. All I had was just large amounts of chakra and a mountain tall Bijuu sealed within me,'' Naruto said leaning back to his chair. He stared at Jiraiya with a blank expression making the Sannin swallow whatever that he was chewing.

''Don't say that. I gave you some skills when I trained you.''

Naruto shook his head making Jiraiya look at him questionably, ''You cannot give anyone skills Jiraiya. A skill is not something you can just hand over. Some people are born with skills while some attain skills through sheer dedication to training,'' he paused for a moment. ''You as a teacher help recognize the skills and improve those skills.'' Jiraiya made to note that Naruto was not the same idiot as he was. He sounded smart. ''In my case you helped me improve what I had so that I could survive the chunin exams. Truthfully, had it not been for you I would have flopped.''

Jiraiya beamed at Naruto's words. He wanted to add that he had improved Naruto's skills and made him perform well at the chunin exams because he was the greatest sensei of all time. But Naruto's next words had him kissing the floor. ''Regardless of how grateful I am for your help, I cannot regard you as a good teacher given the fact that you pushed me inside a deep hole just to see if I could use the Kyuubi's power. If the Kyuubi was suicidal I would have died or ended up with a broken body,'' Naruto said with a straight face, eyes still looking at Jiraiya.

''You hurt me with your words Naruto,'' Jiraiya said rather childishly. ''But you have to agree my method did give good results. You ended up summoning Gamabunta with the Kyuubi's power.'' The Sannin pointed out. Despite his method being risky, it gave satisfactory results.

''Yes It did,'' Naruto conceded.

Silence took its part in the room. Naruto was still staring at Jiraiya with an unreadable expression on his face. The look on Naruto's face was really making the Sannin nervous. The old Naruto would have been just looking at him with a goofy smile and wide eyes.

Finally Jiraiya spoke. ''You know seeing you like that working behind the desk reminds me too much of your father. He used to love this study,'' Jiraiya stated changing the subject. Naruto's parent's; that was his reason for coming here. Naruto knew who his parent's were. He never told the blond, but it was his task to do so. He had not planned to tell Naruto about his parentage before the whole Akatsuki mess was over. But now, Naruto knew. That is where things were complicated.

Naruto's face took a thoughtful expression, ''I forgot that father was your prized student. Moreover, you saw him as your own son, am I correct?''

''Yeh,'' Jiraiya replied with a proud smile. ''Minato was the son I never had. The brat was a genius.''

''A pity I was nothing like him.''

The words worked like magic. The mood in the study became tense. Jiraiya looked away from Naruto, not wanting to meet his gaze. Sighing, Jiraiya looked back at Naruto. ''Naruto I-'' he was cut off by Naruto.

''Jiraiya I just came back from a three year training trip. The training was harsh to both my mind and body. Today is the first time I stepped inside my parents house. A house that I was supposed to grow up in. Jiraiya I saw the crib that my parents had prepared for me. You and the Sandaime made sure I never saw this house or sleep in the bed that was made for me,'' Jiraiya looked down in shame at hearing those words. It must have been draining emotionally for Naruto to see a house he was supposed to grow up in. But instead he had been left to live in the orphanage while he had inherited a house from his parents.

''I simply do no not care for your reasons in keeping the truth from me Jiraiya. As it stands, it matters not because the damage has already been done. I know you may be sorry for not looking after me while I was taking crap from the villagers. I mean it is the responsibility of a godfather to take of their godson right?'' Jiraiya could only nod.

''Let's face the facts, you only came back to the village and offered to train me because of the threat of Akatsuki. Had it not been for them, you would have never shown yourself before me. Regardless of that, I do not hate you Jiraiya. But make no mistake I am very much angry with you,'' Naruto paused for a moment letting the words sink into Jiraiya's head. ''Now if you can live me alone to enjoy this free time I have, it would be highly appreciated.''

Jiraiya slumped his shoulders. He had expected worse. At least Naruto did not hate him for keeping the truth from him and not being there for him in his younger days. ''Fine, I will go. But meet me at Hime's office tomorrow at 8am. We have a lot to discuss.''

Naruto figured they wanted to know more about his training and who he was with. He had basically not told them anything about his training trip. Knowing Tsunade, she would not be satisfied until she got some answers. He was not going to give any he did not want though. There was also the matter of his parentage. Since he now knew, it would change things completely.

Jiraiya turned around to leave only to be stopped by Naruto's voice, ''And oh Jiraiya, always remember this; there will be severe punishment for your choices. So godfather, when you walk around know that I will be watching, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.''

**The End…..**


	5. Chapter 5

**Before chapter 5….there is something of importance; SOPA. Now I believe that we all know that if that law is passed then we are all screwed. SOPA is just wrong we cannot allow something like that to be passed.**

**To sign in for a petition visit (.gov/petition/stop-sopa-2014/q0VKK0Zr)**

**Your signatures are needed. Closing date is 19 march.**

**Now onto the next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Robert Mulaudzi does not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 5 the real me**

Three hours before 8am-the time he was supposed to meet Tsunade and Jiraiya-Naruto was already awake. He had slept comfortably on his parent's bed. Yes, he had decided to use his parent's room as his. The house was his now, there was no use in preserving the room for another use. He could as well enjoy the comfort of the bed that his parents used. Ultimately sleeping in the bed had resulted in a sound sleep. But he had set up an alarm to wake up early so he could begin to work on other things.

Yesterday his clones had finished cleaning the house. Luckily, only a few of the furniture's would need to be replaced to suit his liking. Overall, the house was cleaned and looked like it had been giving refuge to someone for quite some time. His clones had not rushed while cleaning. They did it slowly and ensured that no dirt was left behind. Today he would have them clean outside the house. The garden was a mess; it appeared that whoever was taking care of the house when the Sandaime was still alive did not bother to look after it. Naruto had always liked flowers. He had planned to go buy some after meeting with Tsunade.

But first thing first, **''Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.''**

A cloud of smoke gave birth to ten clones of Naruto. Naruto waved them to get on to their duties. They already knew what they were tasked to do. Without a complaint, the clones first went to the basement to get the required tools to service the garden.

Naruto went to the kitchen. He began to boil some water. He waited calmly at the kitchen for the water to boil. After it had finally boiled, Naruto made himself a cup of black tea. Even though he did not enjoy tea as much as Itachi did, it was still refreshing in the morning. Perhaps in the morning was the only time he would say he enjoyed drinking tea. Speaking of Itachi. He was already missing the man's stoic presence. The intelligent conversations they used to have and the often training they used to do, he was missing all that. Funny thing was that it had been just four days since he left the Uchiha clan hideout. Now was the second day since he returned to Konoha.

Naruto took his cup of tea to the study. He placed the cup on the desk and went on to take a scroll from the shelves. He went back to his desk and sat behind it on a chair and begun to read the scroll while sipping his tea.

His mother was also familiar with seals. Her seals were unique only to Uzumaki clan members. When she came into Konoha from Uzushiogakure, she came with so many scrolls from her mother and had certain knowledge of seals. His father was able to benefit from her scrolls. Perhaps if it were not for his mother, his father would never had become renowned for his mastery in fuinjutsu. The Uzumaki clan was indeed ingenious and creative with their work. Naruto could only wonder what the clan would have been able to do with seals had Great Villages not annihilated them for their creativity.

Well there was always a price for power. A pity that the Uzumaki paid a hefty price, while they were a peaceful nation secluded in their own little island. They distanced themselves from fighting when necessary.

Naruto picked up his cup and peeked inside it. There was nothing left. He had drank all the tea without even realizing it. And he kept saying he was not the one who enjoyed tea. Sighing, Naruto placed the cup on the desk and continued reading the scroll.

It had details about seals that were used to seal Bijuu's. Interesting part was that his clan had been the first clan to develop a seal that could hold a Bijuu and imprison it inside a human. Perhaps his clan had inherited something from the Sage of Six paths. Despite the hypothesis not being confirmed by either clan, Senju and Uzumaki were relatives. Whoever was Uzumaki had Senju heritage in them. That meant that Uzumaki were also related to the Sage Six Paths. Senju and Uchiha inherited power, while Uzumaki inherited his mind and life force.

That sounded just about right.

An hour left before he could meet Tsunade.

Naruto took the scroll and returned it to the shelve. He slowly went back to his desk and opened a drawer. He took out the papers he had written yesterday on his book Complex Fuinjutsu. He wanted to ensure that he had explained everything clearly without a mistake. Although he doubted he made any mistake, it did not kill him to check. After re-reading everything, Naruto was satisfied.

He stood up and stretched his muscles before looking at the time. More than 40 minutes left before he had to leave. He smiled as a thought came into his mind.

Naruto walked out of the study and went straight to his room. His sword was perfectly placed near his bed. He had yet to find a perfect place for it. The basement did not seem like a place his sword would appreciate to be kept. Keeping it close to him had been the choice he had taken. He picked up the sword inside its sheath before wrapping the sheath on his back.

He walked onto a clearing. No, a training ground at the back of the house. He liked the house because it had everything he would need. He did not have to go anywhere to get some training done. It was good for his body to keep it conditioned at the highest level. He did not want his skills to become dull. That can happen if he misses a few days of training.

**''Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**,'' Naruto created a clone. The clone stood in front of him with its own copy of The Sword of the Thunder God.

Without another word, both Naruto's disappeared in blurs and engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle.

The clone rushed at Naruto. Upon reaching the Original, the clone brought out its right hand and went for an uppercut. Naruto was more than ready for the challenge. He blocked the incoming punch with his left hand.

He held out his right hand creating a Rasengan. The clone immediately leaped away from Naruto so to avoid being hit by the A-rank jutsu. Naruto did not want to use the jutsu, simply he just wanted the clone to make some distance with him. He knew that with its punch blocked the clone would attempt something else.

Naruto disappeared in a blur towards his clone. He appeared in front of with his foot raised and attempted to kick the clone at its temple. Unfortunately, the clone had good reflexes just as he did. It brought out both its hands to block the powerful kick. Naruto's kick was unable to penetrate or break the guard.

The clone moved shiftily to kick him on his waist level with its right foot. Naruto saw the attack coming and countered with his own foot. The two legs collided in midair but not for long as both of them were retrieved making way for the legs which had been used for balance. But the results was the same.

Naruto jumped back away from his clone. The clone did not give him a chance to breath. It attacked him again and they engaged in a taijutsu battle across the training ground. The battle took several minutes before both parties finally separated.

Naruto unsheathed his blade and stuck his finger on a small hole on the blade's handle. He spun the blade in front of him like a fan before retrieving his finger and flicked the sword. He caught it and held if in front of him.

Just as he was about to charge at his clone, an alarm rang. Naruto sighed and sheathed his blade. He looked at his clone, ''dispel yourself,'' he said walking away from the training ground.

Before going into the house, he went to check how the clones were doing at the garden. He smiled when he arrived: they were doing well. All the unwanted weeds had been uprooted and dead flowers also. They were also preparing the soil for plantation. He smiled. Definitely, after meeting with Tsunade he would go and buy some flowers.

Nodding to himself, Naruto walked inside his house and went straight to his room. He did not do anything other than taking a warm refreshing bath. After the bath, nothing else was done. He just changed into new clothes. He took out some clothes he had bought on his way back to the village. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt and dark blue pants along with blue shinobi sandals.

**Hokage's office**

Tsunade sat leaning against her chair with Jiraiya sitting on the window of her office. Naruto: He was dominating her every thought. The fact that he knew his parentage changed a lot of things. Added to that he was living inside of his parent's house. The Council would have to be informed of this, or they would start yapping to her about this and that. She definitely had no time to listen to whatever they would want to say about Naruto. The house was his, it was his inheritance.

The council had been keeping away Naruto's inheritance and parentage. The fact that he found out about it and went to claim it without even speaking to them will cause them to stir.

Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya. Ever since he entered the office, he had been oddly quiet. Jiraiya was never the one to be quiet no matter what the situation was. Serious? Yes, he could be serious if the situation called for it.

''Do you think he hates us?'' she asked her former teammate quietly.

Jiraiya shook his head, ''No. I spoke to him yesterday about it when I went to inform him of this meeting.''

''What did he say to you?''

''He did not care for my reasons and that he was angry with me. He also said he did not hate me.'' Jiraiya did not tell Tsunade of Naruto's last words to him. Truthfully, he was dreading what sort of punishment the blond was planning for him.

''And me?''

''He did not say anything about you. He only spoke of me and sensei. I don't think he blames you for anything.''

Tsunade sighed in relief. ''Well that is good to know,'' she said. ''But still, even I knew of his parentage but did not bother to say anything to him. In fact, I was not planning to tell him anything until he became strong enough to protect himself.''

''Don't feel bad about anything hime,'' Jiraiya said in a consoling voice. ''Sensei and I were the ones who messed up things. I can't say sensei alone is to blame. But I who was Naruto's godfather should have at least been there for him.''

Tsunade wanted to say that he indeed had messed up big time. But she knew that her teammate regretted his choice for not taking care of Naruto when he was still young. Probably he had even chosen to take the blond on a three year training trip so that he could make up for lost time. She was not going to point out Jiraiya's wrongs for him. He was already beating himself for it. He did not need her to add more to that misery. There was also the fact that Jiraiya had felt responsible for Minato's death. He felt that as his sensei he should have been there to protect him. He failed to do that and it pained him.

''I just hope that he will...'' Tsunade trailed off as she sensed something.

Naruto appeared in the middle of the office right in front of Tsunade's desk. He just appeared; just like that. There were no leaves that came with him, there was not cloud of smoke, there was nothing. He just appeared. Not even a flash of something was seen.

''Morning Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya,'' Naruto greeted the two former teammates with a small smile.

Jiraiya simply nodded to Naruto. Tsunade responded with words. ''Morning to you too Naruto,'' she said with a smile. ''Did you sleep well at your new home?''

''Yes...the night was pleasant,'' Naruto replied still standing in front of Tsunade's desk.

''I'm glad,'' Tsunade said before clearing her throat. For what purpose, only she knew. ''Can you sit down Naruto. Jiraiya and I have things to discuss with you.''

''I would imagine so,'' Naruto stated taking a sit. He would never have been called at this time of the morning to the office if there was nothing to talk about.

''First thing. We will ask you some questions which we will ask that you give us honest answers,'' Jiraiya said taking over from Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded. ''Yes you can trust us with anything,'' she said.

Naruto simply remained quiet. The smile on his face was now replaced by an impassive expression on his face. He waited for Tsunade and Jiraiya to start with the discussion. But that did not mean he was going to share with them everything. He would not want to put Itachi's life in danger. Itachi was no longer strong as he was given his ''condition''. If he were to tell them about him, they would surely try to get him to tell them about his whereabouts. Naruto knew that not even Jiraiya or Tsunade were aware of Itachi's mission.

''Tell me Naruto, how did you find out about your parentage? It was a closely guarded secret that only ANBU and the Council members knew off,'' Jiraiya questioned looking straight into Naruto's eyes.

''Someone told me about it,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''Who?'' this time, it was Tsunade who asked the question.

''I cannot tell you that. I made that perfectly clear yesterday.''

Tsunade gritted her teeth but remained calm. Naruto was not making things easy for her. She wanted to protect him from the council should they know that he had not been with Jiraiya during the past three years. But for her to protect him, she needed him to be honest with her and tell her everything. There was also the fact that they had to know who had told Naruto about his parentage and for what purpose. She wanted to know if village secrets where being leaked by someone else. She also had to know if someone her and Jiraiya knew had gone to tell Naruto about his parentage while they had worked to keep it away from him and the whole world.

''Naruto why can't you just tell us. It's just me and Jiraiya what do you think we will do?''

''Because if I do tell you, I would be betraying someone's trust in me. I cannot do something like that. And as for what I think you will do. I have not thought that far since I never planned to tell you anything that could violate someone's trust in me.''

Tsunade was rather unnerved by Naruto's calm demeanor. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. Whoever had told Naruto about his parentage must have meant a lot to Naruto if he was not willing to give them even a name.

Even Jiraiya now looked at Naruto suspiciously. He could not understand why Naruto would not tell them the name of the person who told him of his parentage. Jiraiya's gut was telling him that whoever told Naruto about his parentage is the one that trained him for the past three years. He had a strong feeling towards that.

Naruto noticed their suspicious gazes and inwardly shook his head in disappointment. Just because he was refusing to tell them about something, they were already looking at him with suspicion.

''Tsunade-sama, I will let that suspicious look on your eyes slide for now,'' Naruto said causing Tsunade to look at him with slightly wide eyes. ''Godfather, you are looking at me with suspicion simply because I refuse to tell the name of the person who told me of my parentage. Ironic, you look at me with suspicion because I refuse to tell you something, as I would be betraying someone. You who being my godfather lied to my face when I asked you if you of my parents,'' Naruto said his tone still calm. Jiraiya had the decency to flinch and look down in shame.

''What concerns you the most Jiraiya, Tsunade-sama? Is it the fact that someone told me of my heritage? Is that someone had the guts to be honest with me? Is it that I am keeping things from you two? Shouldn't you be happy that I went away and came back safe and strong enough to protect myself?''

Jiraiya and Tsunade were not really expecting Naruto to say something like that. So they were surprised upon hearing those words from Naruto. Perhaps Naruto is right. They should be happy that Naruto had returned to them safely. He had transformed his personality and attitude. He had come back smart. As people who care for Naruto, they should have been happy for him. So why were they focused on grinding information from Naruto? Is it because they did not like it when Naruto kept things from them? Was it being fair to him? They also kept things from that could have changed his life way sooner.

Naruto would never do anything that would harm Konoha or any of his friends. They knew that. Naruto's love for Konoha ran deep. He would never do anything or associate himself with someone who could harm the village. If they knew that, why did they even look at him with suspicion?

''I should have known better,'' Tsunade said more to herself than anyone. ''Naruto it is not that we are not happy that you have returned and know of your heritage. We are just worried about you.''

''You also have to understand that your heritage is an S-class secret. I do not believe that you met anyone from the village who could have told you about it since recently there has been no one from our top ranks to depart the village. So it would be alarming if someone outside the village knows one of our closely guarded secrets.'' Jiraiya added to Tsunade's words.

''You should have known that I would never do anything that would harm Konoha,'' Naruto said. ''There is nothing to worry about it terms of village security. Regardless of your concerns, I still will not tell you who told me of my heritage. I am very thankful of what the person did for me. If not told, I would have been running around the world not knowing who I was.

''Now that I know who I am and where I come from I can live freely and be myself. Back then, what made me strong and kept me alive was my heart and desire to protect, that which was precious to me. Now I know my roots. I know what is expected of me as Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze's son.''

Jiraiya had to nod. Naruto did make sense with what he was saying. He also had to give the blond praise. While speaking of the mysterious person who told him about his heritage, Naruto never gave them anything. Not the gender, not even who the person was associated with. He did not even reveal whether the person was from Konoha or not.

''I understand. I think hime also understands,'' Jiraiya said eyeing the blonde Hokage before looking straight at Naruto, ''however, I need you to answer some questions,'' he said.

Naruto waited for the questions.

''Was the person who told you of your heritage the one you had been with in duration of the past three years?''

''Yes,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''You said you could now ''be myself'', Are you saying that before you left Konoha you where not being yourself?''

Tsunade was shocked at question. Jiraiya was asking if Naruto had been wearing a mask before he left the village for his training.

Naruto smiled slightly at the Sannin. ''How perceptive of you Jiraiya. You noticed that little detail,'' Naruto said. ''To answer your question; yes and no. Yes: not every smile I gave was real. Most of them were fakes hiding my pain and loneliness. I also was not stupid as people might have thought I was. I believe only Shikamaru knew the real me. No: I was always kind hearted by nature. My desire to protect was not fake, but that was something that came from my heart. In addition, my dream of being Hokage came to be because I wanted to be acknowledged and seen as acceptable. When I left Konoha for the training trip. The way I was, that was part of the real me. Now as you see me. This is who I am. This is the real me. You could as well say that right now I am complete.''

Naruto's words left both Tsunade and Jiraiya bewildered. None of them had seen this one coming.

''Why did I not realize it?'' Tsunade and Jiraiya asked themselves.

''Now are we in agreement that you won't be asking me about who I trained with and who told me about my heritage?''

''Yes,'' Tsunade said with a sigh.

''Well then, is there something else?''

''Yes, but before that. Where is that necklace I gave you?'' Tsunade asked. She had not seen Naruto wearing it yesterday. Even today he was not wearing it.

''I have it placed somewhere safe. I know you gave it to me to wear...well technically, I won it. But knowing how valuable it is I doubt you would have given it to me if you did not want to. I stopped wearing it when I began training. I did not want to lose it and also I feel uncomfortable wearing it knowing what it does.'' he was not going to explain to Tsunade what it does. She knew that the necklace was really a seal that could activate on its own once a certain amount of power of a bijuu was released by a jinchuriki.

''But that does not mean I do not appreciate it. I know it is very precious to you knowing that it is the only material thing that can remind you of your grandfather other than Konoha itself. However, I will not give it back. I will keep it and give it to someone precious to me.''

Jiraiya quickly responded with a grin, ''You mean like a girl?''

Naruto sighed. Jiraiya was a shameless pervert. In this case, he was right.

Tsunade smiled knowing that Naruto had not just discarded the gift she gave to him. And his silence proved that Jiraiya was right, he was going to give it to a girl. She just hoped that the girl was well mannered, beautiful, strong and kindhearted like Naruto. She would not accept anything less than that.

''Do what want me to reveal that you are the son of the Yondaime to the village?'' Tsunade asked. Actually, she wanted him to say yes so she could see the look on the faces of the villagers when they hear that the very person they have hated and treated as a social outcast is the son of their beloved Yondaime Hokage.

''Do what you want,'' Naruto said with a nonchalant shrug.

Tsunade nodded.

''Naruto, you have also not told us about your training and how strong you are.'' Jiraiya said.

''Ah Jiraiya...a ninja must have his secrets.''

''I cannot give you a proper rank without knowing how strong you are. Currently you are just a chunin.''

''Chunin? Last time I remember I was just a genin.'' Naruto said knowing that he was not promoted after the chunin exams despite showing skills that were compatible to a chunin.

Tsunade smirked. ''After you left I promoted you after reviewing you performance at the exams. You fought Gaara after having released Shikaku and defeated him. No genin can do that and also your fight with Neji was impressive. The council just wanted you to be grounded.'' Tsunade explained.

Naruto just nodded not even looking the slightest excited or thrilled by the news.

''In measuring your strength, I know a perfect way to have you show what you can do. You cannot refuse is as it is an order from you Hokage.''

Naruto just sighed again. He had expected as much from Tsunade. She would not rest until she knew how strong he was. Knowing how strong he was would work in her favor when she has to be overprotective of him.

''You will be at training ground 7 tomorrow at 10pm!'' that was an order not a request by the Godaime Hokage.

Naruto simply nodded.

''We also wanted to tell you about the Akatsuki,'' Jiraiya said.

''They have dispended. I know that.''

''How?''

Naruto shrugged in response. He really did not have to respond to each the question.

''That does not matter,'' Tsunade said. ''The good news is that Naruto is safe from them and he-'' Tsunade was cut off by the opening door.

''Tsunade-sama I have brought you the reports...'' a grown up Sakura trailed off when she noticed the spiky blond hair. She stood still staring with wide eyes.

Naruto turned around to look at his former teammate in team 7. He gave the girl a smile, ''Sakura,'' he said.

Sakura walked closer to Naruto with a mountain of papers in her hands, ''N-naruto?''

Naruto nodded.

Sakura beamed up brightly at seeing her former teammate for the first time in three years. ''Naruto,'' she said happily. ''How have you been? How was your training? When did you come back?'' Sakura started asking questions like a schoolgirl. The adults just watched with small smiles in their faces.

''I am well. I returned yesterday. How have you been?''

''Good,'' Sakura replied. ''You look...wow.'' she said dropping her reports to the floor like they did not matter. She touched her shirt and spun around, ''How do I look?''

''Beautiful as always,'' Naruto said giving the girl a lady killer smile that made the girl blush at the simple compliment.

Jiraiya on the other hand was singing in pure happiness seeing how well Naruto was handling Sakura. The old Naruto would have just insulted her. However, this one made her blush. This meant one thing for the Sannin: gold mine!

Naruto stood up and looked back at Tsunade. ''Well I believe we have already discussed everything. I will see you tomorrow Hokage-sama.'' Naruto said and disappeared in flash of yellow.

Tsunade blinked and blinked again. ''Damn Jiraiya! You forgot to ask him about 'that'!''

Jiraiya smiled, ''I will go and ask him now. If he disappeared like that then he is off to his house. I will see you later hime,'' the self-proclaimed super pervert said jumping out of the window.

Sakura looked at her master forgetting that she had dropped the reports she wanted Tsunade to sign on the floor. ''Tsunade-sama, was that really Naruto?'' she asked. That Naruto was very different from the one she knew. Still, she was glad that he had changed.

''Yes Sakura that was Naruto,'' Tsunade replied looking straight at her student.

''He really has changed.''

Tsunade sighed rubbing her temples. ''Yes Sakura you have already told him that.''

''I have...'' she sort of like questioned herself like that conversation earlier with Naruto had not happened.

''Sakura,'' Tsunade called snapping Sakura out of her thoughts. ''Aren't you forgetting something?''

''Huh?''

Tsunade moved her eyes down on the floor. Seeing that Sakura was not getting her, she moved her fingers and pointed at the papers. Sakura looked at them and flushed in embarrassment.

''I forgot about them,'' she said leaning down to pick up the papers.

''This are the reports you had me prepare yesterday so you could approve,'' she said handing over Tsunade the papers.

'Great! More paperwork!' Tsunade yelled inside her head at the work Sakura was giving her. Well at least this was from the hospital. She cared too much for the hospital to avoid its work. She did not have much work to do anymore since Sakura and Shizune did most of the work.

Tsunade took the paperwork and placed it aside. She first had to finish some of the paperwork her receptionist had brought her.

''Where is Shizune?''

''She had a night shift at the hospital. Did not she tell you that yesterday?''

Tsunade sighed. Shizune had told her yesterday that she was going to take a night shift at the hospital. Sometimes when Shizune took a night shift she would often come at the office in the morning to check if things were in order then go home to sleep. 'I guess she had a lot more work to do last night' she thought. Without Shizune, she would not have anyone to dump on her work.

''Tsunade-sama,'' Sakura said causing Tsunade to look at her. ''Now that Naruto is back, will Team 7 be formed again? I mean all the team members are present in the village. In addition, you did say that Sasuke-kun sometimes takes missions with Kakashi-sensei.''

Tsunade sighed for the hundredth time since she woke up. ''I don't know Sakura,'' she said honestly. ''It depends on Naruto. After what happened between him and Sasuke, I don't think he will want to be on the same team with Sasuke. But I will ask him tomorrow about it.''

in the topic of Sasuke. Naruto had never brought up his name since he returned. It was like he was not even concerned about Sasuke. It was like he did not care for the Uchiha.

''Oh...'' Sakura breathed out. She knew that when Naruto left for his training he was not in the most of happy person. In fact he was somewhat scary to look at because Sasuke had almost killed him. Of course, she did not believe it at first when she was told that Sasuke had attempted and almost succeeded in killing Naruto. But when showed evidence she believed it. Still, she could not understand why Sasuke would do something like that to Naruto. He might have been loud and annoying. But he was their friend and teammate. Naruto was the only friend that Sasuke had.

Regardless, she still naively believed that things would go back to the way they were before the Sasuke retrieval mission. She wanted team 7 to be back to together again, so they could be a family again.

''Sakura it might be hard for you to understand but at least try to see things in Naruto's point of view,'' Tsunade stated not wanting to give the girl hopes that team 7 would be reinstated again.

Sakura just nodded.

''Are you going back to the hospital?'' Tsunade asked changing the subject.

''Yes,'' Sakura answered immediately. ''I have a few patients that I have to see before noon,'' she said.

Tsunade nodded in understanding. ''Tell the rest of Naruto's friends to be at training ground 7 tomorrow at 10H00.''

''What will be happening at my old training ground?''

''It's a surprise,'' Tsunade said with a small smile.

**An hour later**

After the meeting with Tsunade, Naruto had flashed back to his house to get money for the things he wanted to buy. First, he had went on to buy the furniture he wanted. He was surprised to see that shop owners were actually smiling at him while he bought the things he wanted. Once he bought his things, he had given them the directions to his house, so they could deliver his things. Some of the things had to be added some custom things he wanted so it would take a few hours for them to finish. Nevertheless, at noon they said they would bring him his furniture.

Naruto appeared in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. He used the roofs and his own advanced **shunshine** that was similar to the one ANBU used to travel and teleport himself to places. He wanted to avoid meeting some of his friends today when necessary before tomorrow. He had planned to see them today, but since Tsunade had planned other things. He would see them tomorrow since he had no doubt they would be at the training ground.

Naruto opened the doors to the flower shop walked over to the flowers without consulting anyone at the counter. He did not even notice who was behind the counter.

''Hello!'' A voice Naruto recognized very well called. ''Can I help you?''

Naruto turned around and looked at the blonde haired girl behind the counter. Ino stared at him with wide eyes upon seeing his face. He was so...wow. She wanted to squeak just by looking at those deep blue eyes that stared at hers.

''N-naruto?''

''Ino,'' Naruto said walking over to the girl.

''Is it really you?''

''Yes,'' Naruto replied keeping his impassive expression, he had been so proud during his time with Itachi.

Ino got away from the counter and went on to stand in front of him. Her eyes were ogling him from toe to head.

''My Naruto, you look wonderful,'' she said slyly.

Well expect Ino to be subtle and she will give you just that. She was straightforward and was not ashamed of her behavior. In fact, she seemed proud of it because it was who it was.

Naruto looked at the girl studying her. She certainly has grown well and her body was well developed more womanly. She dwarfed Sakura with her chest. In terms of looks she was just as beautiful. Naruto shoved his thoughts at the back of his head. During his time with Itachi he never had these kind of thoughts. Perhaps it was because there was a lack of females at the hideout. At the hideout, he even rarely smiled. However, ever since he returned he had been smiling more often.

Nevertheless, he knew that the smiles would disappear soon and replaced by a bored look.

''When did you return? How was...'' Naruto cut her off.

''One question at a time Ino,'' Naruto said. ''I returned yesterday.''

''And you did not tell your friends that you returned. We missed you so much, you know.''

''I had important matters to deal with,'' Naruto replied.

Ino nodded. ''I'm amazed. It's not just your appearance that has changed, but you attitude as well. I never thought that you would change.''

''Unexpected things occur every time,'' Naruto responded.

''What are you doing here anyway? I did not think that you liked flowers.'' Ino said happily.

''You did not know me,'' Naruto said. ''I want to buy some flowers for my garden.''

''You have a garden?''

''Yes.''

''Where? As far as I know you live in an apartment,'' Ino said. That was indeed a surprise to her. She did not take Naruto as the kind to be taking care of a garden.

''At my house,'' Naruto replied not hiding that he was now living inside his inherited house.

''Wow. You have your own house?'' Ino asked greatly surprised by what Naruto had just said.

''Yes,'' Naruto replied. Ino was questioning him a lot. Not that he had anything to hide, he just had come to order the flowers then go back to his house.

''Okay...what kind of flowers do you want?''

Naruto listed everything he wanted, from Annuals, bulbs, roses, perennials, herbs, and vines. One particular tree that he liked was showed in a poster. A redbud tree. The tree was beautiful. Naruto wanted it on his garden.

The flowers Naruto wanted amazed Ino. He did truly know what he wanted in his garden. Thinking of it, she really wanted to see it. Anyone who liked flowers had to be her friend, especially if it was a hot guy like Naruto.

Naruto handed the money his flowers cost. ''Some of the things you bought here are not in the flower shop but at our garden. I will have to get them there.'' Ino said.

''It's alright,'' Naruto said. ''Pen and paper,'' he said. Ino gave him what he requested. Naruto wrote something on the paper then handed it back to Ino.

''What is it?''

''Directions to my house. You will have to deliver them.''

''Okay,'' Ino said rather happily that she should have been.

With that Naruto walked away from the flower shop without another word. Ino just stared at his retrieving figure with her head resting on her hand. After Naruto stepped out of the flower shop, he took the roofs and headed back home.

**Naruto's house**

Jiraiya had been waiting for Naruto for a few minutes now. Since he left Tsunade's office he had said he was coming here but he had taken a little detour to the hot springs. Unfortunately, there was no one as it was still morning. He was utterly saddened by that. He got no material for his next book. It was not acceptable. But there was nothing he could do about it. He could not drag woman from their homes and force them to ''play'' in the hot springs while he watched.

Perhaps he could have Naruto use that sexy jutsu for him. Yap that would definitely do, since the hot and exotic blonde-haired women Naruto was able to make had knocked him a few times. He doubted the blond would do it for him anyway.

He sensed Naruto at the entrance of the house and left the study to the entrance.

''Jiraiya...that is just wrong...no matter your relationship with a person you don't enter their houses and wonder around while they are not around,'' Naruto stated as he entered the house. He sensed the Sannin upon arriving at the house.

''Come one Naruto...I have been coming in and out of this house before you were even born.''

''Yes, my parents allowed you to enter the house. But now the house is owned by me. I am forbidding you to enter my house when I am not in,'' Naruto said. ''If you ignore that you will regret it.''

Now that was just wrong. Not the words themselves. But the Way Naruto said them and the little smile he had on his face. It sounded like Orochimaru had spoken those words. That was never a comfort to anyone.

Therefore, Jiraiya nodded.

''So then, what is it? I thought everything had been discussed,'' Naruto said going to the sitting room.

Jiraiya followed him. ''Yes...well there was something we forgot to ask you.''

''What is it?''

''Twice since you have returned, you have disappeared from Tsunade's office in a yellow flash.''

''I don't understand your question.''

''Did you learn your father's most prized jutsu?''

Naruto stared at Jiraiya for a moment before replying. ''Yes.''

''When? How did you even get your hands on it. Entrance to the house was strictly forbidden unless given permission by the Hokage.''

''Are you expecting me to answer you Jiraiya?'' Naruto asked calmly.

''Yes, I am curious.''

''No,''

''Huh?''

''I won't answer your question,'' Naruto stated standing up.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth at the lack of answers. There was no doubt, the person who told Naruto of his heritage also trained him and sneak in the house to take the scrolls. That person was either a former ANBU of the village or someone else who was privileged to S-rank secrets of the village. He had thought of a certain name but he had shrugged it off as the odds were against it.

''Fine,'' he said in a defeated tone. He liked the old Naruto much better than this one.

He followed Naruto outside the house through the back door. Naruto smiled at the work his clones had done. The grass was just cut and the weed had been rooted off his green grass. Added with some flowers, the garden will be very much beautiful.

''You have done well to put the house back to perfect condition,'' Jiraiya commented.

**Ramen stand**

It was just past noon and Naruto had decided to get something at the ramen stand. He had missed the sweet taste of Icharaku ramen. Itachi had never allowed him to eat any...he never even bought any each time he went away to get food for them to eat. Other foods Naruto was allowed as Itachi said they were good for his body and overall grown. Itachi had reminded him that he was shorter than any of his age group friends.

Naruto had admitted that ramen did not give him the nutrients that other healthy food would give him. Healthy food that were rich in nutrients was also good for him on his training. To be able to recover quickly and keep a healthy body, he needed to eat healthy food. He could not always depend of the Kyuubi to deal with healing his body. The Kyuubi also could not give him the nutrients that his body needed. He could only get them from food that he ate.

And so he had gone for three years without eating a single noodle of ramen.

Ino had already delivered the flowers he wanted. He kept them safe and watered. He would plant them at night or tomorrow morning. It would depend on whether he had time today. If not, tomorrow before training ground 7 he would plant them. Ino had insisted on getting to see the inside of his house. Luckily, there was no portrait of his parents in the sitting room and kitchen-the only place he had showed Ino. If Ino were to know that his father was the Yondaime Hokage, the whole of Konoha would be aware of it by the end of the day. He girl did not know when to keep her mouth shut after hearing something that other people did not know.

Naruto arrived at the Ramen stand and took his sit. ''Hello Ayame,'' he greeted to the woman who was attending another customer.

Ayame took noticed of Naruto and rushed over to him. ''Naruto...is that really you?''

''Yes,'' Naruto responded.

The moment the 'yes' left his mouth; Ayame jumped the counter and threw herself at Naruto. She hit him making him fall off his chair. She had more power than Naruto had anticipated. Both crashed at the ground with Ayame sitting on top of Naruto.

''I have missed you so much Naruto,'' she said happily with no intentions to get off him as she had yet to realize that she was on top of him.

''I missed you too Ayame,'' Naruto said. ''Not that I have a problem with you sitting on top of me, but am really uncomfortable.'' Naruto stated looking at Ayame's eyes.

Ayame took notice that she was indeed on top of Naruto and he was uncomfortable, as he had hit the ground awkwardly. She blushed slightly and hit Naruto on his shoulder for his comment before getting off him. She stalked off to the back of the counter.

Naruto stood up and dusted himself before sitting down again.

''When did you come back?'' Ayame asked looking at Naruto happily.

''Yesterday,'' Naruto responded.

''How are you and how was the three years for you?''

''I'm well. The three years were quiet pleasant and satisfactory,'' Naruto replied. ''How about you?''

''I'm well. It just was never been the same without you around. Your disappearance was quickly noted the second or perhaps the day you left.''

''I would imagine so given my character those days,'' Naruto responded with a smile. Those days, he was very loud and would be going around the streets of Konoha shouting something to anyone. He was not very quiet and his orange made it easy for people to recognize him without mistake or a second look.

''Father!'' Ayame shouted. ''Come here there is someone I want you to see!''

A second later Teuchi appeared behind the counter. He still held a spoon on his hand. It was clear that he was cooking something before Ayame decided to call him. ''What is it Ayame?'' he asked.

Ayame pointed at Naruto. Teuchi looked at Naruto and then smiled softly. ''Naruto my boy you have returned,'' he said.

''Yes,'' Naruto responded with a smile of his own. ''How have you been Teuchi-san?''

''Good, good. I must say, I'm happy to see back in one piece and looking to be in perfect condition,'' Teuchi said.

The Icharaku had been like his family seeing that they provided for him and were the only people who allowed him to eat without overcharging him and just kicking him out of their shops. They sometimes even allowed him to eat without money to pay for his food. He was very grateful for them and what they have done for his life.

''How has business been?'' Naruto asked whether the ramen stand was still making profit or not.

Teuchi smiled pleasantly. ''Good,'' he said. ''If it wasn't we would not have opened now would have we?''

''Even if you just to open for you number one customer?'' Naruto asked.

Teuchi chuckled slightly. ''If the bar was closed I would open anytime for my favorite customer,'' he said.

Naruto smiled, ''Can I have one bowl of Miso ramen,'' He said getting his order.

Ayame nodded and went back to the kitchen along with her father who went back to cooking what he had been cooking before Ayame called him. Naruto did not have to wait for too long to get his ramen. He ate it surprisingly slowly and savoring it. Ayame was really surprised to see Naruto eat with proper manners. She was even more surprised when Naruto said only a single bowl was enough.

''No it's free for today since I have missed you,'' Ayame said refusing to take Naruto's money.

''Please Ayame; I have already ate much more from you guys for free. At least now that I have money allow me to pay for my meals,'' Naruto said trying to convince Ayame to take his money. He did not want the Icharaku to suffer on their income because he was eating from them for free.

''No, as I said the meal was for free.''

Naruto sighed and pocketed the money. Perhaps when he was still young he would have gladly accepted the free ramen because money at that time was scarce. He also did not understand what it meant for the Icharaku when they gave him free food. Well the girl was not going to budge, he could at least be grateful.

''Well thanks anyway,'' Naruto finally said. ''I will see you around Ayame,'' with that he disappeared from the ramen stand.

Ayame blinked one, twice and then shrugged before going to the kitchen to help her father with kitchen duties.

**Later that day**

After Naruto had left the ramen stand, he had gone home and went straight to the study to continue with his book. He spent hours writing it.

Then he was interrupted, to be precise his own thoughts interrupted him. He had remembered the time Jiraiya had been refusing to train him saying he had to do 'research' for his next book. Naruto had worked the whole night writing the next book to the Icha Icha series. Jiraiya had been devastated upon learning what Naruto had done. More shocked when a courier took the notes and delivered them to a feudal lord of another country.

Naruto was surprised when the feudal lord actually giggled perversely after reading the first page of his script. At that time he had just thought he could write well as much as Jiraiya could. Perhaps he is indeed right. He was only 12 at that time and he was able to write staff that Jiraiya needed to peek on women to write. He wrote it without peeking. That spoke much about his own thoughts and imaginations.

Unable to continue with his book, Naruto had decided to visit to forest of death to blow of some steam.

Naruto stood in the middle of the forest after having made sure that he had created enough distance between him and Konoha. He did not want anyone eves dropping while he blew off some steam.

**''Wind Style: Wind God Technique**!'' He created a giant tornado, which spun towards the trees. The giant tornado moved towards the trees and began to uproot a number of trees in its path with its ferocity. The jutsu continued to cause destruction on its path before dying down and leaving only its destruction behind.

Naruto formed more hand signs for his next jutsu. **''Wind Style: Divine down current**!'' Naruto created a vortex of wind and blasted it towards the trees. The jutsu successfully destroyed its helpless targets within seconds.

Naruto set more hand seals. **''Wind Style: Vacuum Wind Barrage**!'' He took a deep breath and exhaled several wind blades. He shot them at different angles by rapidly moving his head towards different directions. The wind blades Naruto shot hit the trees cutting them from different directions. When Naruto stopped his jutsu, the trees around him were cut down by the jutsu.

A seal less clone appeared next to Naruto. It jumped away from creating some distance between them. Just as it was about to take action Naruto sensed something. His clone also sensed it and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto tilted his head sideways as a Kunai came flying towards his head. He caught it rather easily in the middle of his fingers. He then flicked it and gripped it tightly. He spun around swiftly and threw the kunai at a rather fast speed.

The target managed to avoid being hit by the Kunai. But she was surprised when she felt a cut on her right cheek even though the kunai missed her. She ran her finger horizontally on the cheek and brought it in front on her. She smiled in a wrong way and leaked her blood.

Naruto recognized the woman, ''Ah the sexy mistress Anko Mitarashi,'' Naruto said impassively looking at the woman.

Anko jumped down from where she stood and walked in a way that could be called seductive towards Naruto. She stopped just a few inches from him before a snake shot out of her sleeve and wrapped itself around Naruto.

''And who might you be?''

''You don't remember me? You did the same thing I just did to you three years ago to me at the chunin exams.''

It clicked on Anko. She could see that he looked like the Yondaime, but the guy was dead. So the thought of he being him never crossed her mind.

''Wait. You are that gaki?'' Anko said in disbelieve.

Naruto just nodded. ''Do you mind telling me why you are interrupting my session?''

Anko shrugged. ''This is my forest and usually nobody comes here so I was surprised when I sensed someone harming my home. And Walla look at what I found.''

Naruto sighed. He had now lost all the drive blow off some steam. Anko leaned to his ear, ''What do you say we play a game of tag handsome?''

Naruto pushed Anko away from him. And grabbed the snake he had been ignoring before throwing it to Anko. ''Sorry no can do,'' he said and disappeared in yellow flash.

Anko blinked multiple times. ''Damn that brat! He ran away from me!'' she gained a mischievous grin on her face. ''Well I like them when they run away,'' she said. Her snake hissed seemingly agreeing with her.

A pity she never found him.

End of chapter 5

Ah...the second day gone and I did not show you Sasuke's reaction to Naruto, and most of his friends reactions. Well that will be for the next chapter.

I have not yet decided about who will be paired with Naruto. But it will definitely not be a Naru/Hina fic. In all honesty, I hate that pairing. I don't have anything against Hinata though. She is a sweet girl.

Anyway...I will probably chose from, Konan, Ino, Kurenai, Yugao, Temari.

Chakra chains definitely...Shisui's Mangekyou...Itachi has the other eye...Hmm it's given that he will give it to Naruto like he did in cannon.

Itachi will not be returning to Konoha...but he will be around for some time.

Chapters, I'm not sure how many they will be, yet, but I doubt they will be more than 30...as for updates...weekly unless I'm busy with something.

Naruto will not be distant from anyone. He will maintain a healthy relationship with everyone and a motherly relationship with Tsunade. It may not look like it at the moment. But with Tsunade, Naruto has changed and no longer thinks the way he used to, you can't expect everything to immediately go back to the way they were after all that change Naruto went through. Eventually everything will return to normal.

The last line is not anything serious. Remember that Naruto is a prankster..the threat is not anything deadly...it will just be something embarrassing to Jiraiya. That will be his punishment nothing serious.

Even the threat in this chapter, it is not anything serious.

The chapter length will depend on what I want to put on a chapter...so might be long some short...but I will my chapters to range between 9k to 11k

Well that's it for chapter 5...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

By the time the sun took over its shift as day had become, Naruto was already awake. Whether with much or little to do, over the past years he had become used to waking up early. During those younger days, waking up early in the morning was not his favorite thing. He downright hated it. Especially when the sun bothered you while you were still enjoying the warmth the bed gave.

Sleep in the morning was always enjoyable. But what is gained for spending too much time in sleep? Nothing. For a shinobi, waking up early has to be a daily thing. Except for one of those days where you have to rest your body from everyday activities. There are so much things and tasks to complete for a shinobi. Sleeping too much only delays the completion of tasks.

But that did not mean that one did not have to rest. No, the body and mind needed rest each day. Without rest, the body can never function at its full capabilities. It is always important to sleep the normal hours needed for the body, mind to rest, and recharge. Despite often waking up before others, Naruto always slept the hours that were enough for his body to rest.

Everybody was different, hours needed for the body to rest were different. With him, he knew that his body needed only few hours as the Kyuubi always refreshed his body of whatever stressed it endured. His mind was what always needed. He might not be a genius like the Nara, but his mind worked overtime more than the Nara. He worked of complex things that even the smartest of the shadow users cannot hope to decipher.

That was why he was proud of his mind and why he always gave it much needed rest. It computed everything he did. Without the mind, his body would not function.

After planting the flowers in his garden, Naruto set up the sprinklers and allowed the water to joyfully dance on his grass. The grass would be pleased with the service. Happy grass, meant a beautiful garden for him.

He went upstairs to take a shower. He would need to before going to the study. He was dirty with mud from his plantation. Today he had rested his clones. They had done much with the garden. He could do the final additions without much trouble.

Naruto dropped off his dirty clothes leaving him with nothing put on his skin, not even boxers. He stepped into the shower and opened the cold water that dropped to his body like cold ice blocks. He did not mind the cold, though. Cold water was what he needed to refresh his body.

He ran his right hand on his hair, removing any unwanted dirt from his beautiful hair. Today he would be seeing all his friends. It had been long since he saw all of them. They would certainly be happy to see him again. He was the one that always made them laugh and sort of like the light on Konoha 12.

A pity that was never to be the case again

Most of them would be mostly annoying. He doubted that Kiba would have changed. He was annoying than anyone. One would call Lee annoying, but that was who he was. Many might ridicule him for his attitude, but it is his attitude that makes him strong. It is his attitude that makes him strive to become better than anyone in terms of taijutsu.

Naruto admired that.

Perhaps one person he would see differently would be Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy might have been a stuck up Hyuuga, but after he had beat him up at the Chunin exams, he had seen him try to change. His previous mentality would have gotten him killed sooner. He underestimated everyone who he deemed below him.

But that was settled when he showed the Hyuuga that everyone created their own fate. Another life he changed.

He did not expect the others to have changed that much. Sakura and Ino still looked like they had their fan girlish attitude which was honestly annoying. Both girls were beautiful, but their attitudes had much fixing to do.

After the shower, Naruto got into his gear. He left the chest plate armour, sword and cloak as he was not moving out yet. He still had to visit the study to do more work on his book and study a little more about barriers.

**Training ground 7**

The Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade was tapping the ground with her right foot impatiently as she waited for Naruto to appear. Everybody else was present, except for Naruto.

But it was just 9:45 and she had said for Naruto be at the training ground at 10.

''Be patient hime, he will come,'' Jiraiya said trying to calm the blonde Hokage. Her actions were making the others uncomfortable.

''He better, or will make sure he spends a month in the hospital wrapped in bandages like a mummy.''

Jiraiya became quiet knowing that Tsunade would not calm down until Naruto appeared. Well, even Kakashi had appeared before 10, right now he was already at the training ground with his famous bored expression. He really wished Tsunade would learn to be patient. It was not even the time she had said for the blond to come.

The other members of the Konoha 12 who were at the training ground did not know why they had been called. Some did not even know that he had returned except for Sakura and Ino, who had already encountered him. One in particular had a good idea why they were called. Sakura being a good girl had only informed them that Tsunade wanted them here at 10. She did not tell them that Naruto had returned.

Surprises were good after all.

Amongst the group were Yuuhi Kurenai, jounin sensei of Team 8, Asuma Sarutobi, jounin sensei of Team 10 and Might Guy, the jounin sense of Team Guy. Of all the jounin's Kurenai and Kakashi were the ones who knew that Naruto had returned. Kurenai had also ''forgotten'' to tell Hinata that Naruto had returned. Perhaps she had done it intentionally. If Naruto had not made his return known to his friends then it was not her place to tell. Even the Hokage had not told them.

1000AM

Tsunade was about to have someone get Naruto when the blond appeared in front of the group. Like he had been doing, he just appeared, no puff of smoke, no swirl of Leaves.

Naruto stood in all his glory with the wearing his full gear and sword strapped on his back. He turned to face the group.

''About time you-'' the voices of Naruto's friend's cut Tsunade off before she could say anything.

''Naruto?''

Naruto took his time to look at the group. Kiba still looked the same, Neji seemed somewhat different and, Chouji and Shikamaru still looked the same. Shino was looking stoic as always. The females had just grown, physically. He did not know much about their mindset though.

''Is that really Naruto?'' Asuma asked finding it hard to believe that the former loud-mouthed brat was the young man standing in front of them.

''Yes, that is him,'' Kurenai said. ''I saw him the day he returned.''

''Yosh, he looks youthful,'' Guy said. Kakashi remained quiet as if he was not interested in anything. That was not the case though. He was very much interested. He wanted to see how strong Naruto had become.

''Is that really you Naruto?'' Kiba asked.

Naruto nodded. Before he could say anything Tsunade spoke. ''The reunion will be for later,'' she said firmly. ''Right now we need to get onto why I called everyone here,'' she said.

Naruto looked at the Hokage, his face no longer adopting the small smiles he had been carrying since he returned. ''Who will it be, Jiraiya or Kakashi?'' there was no other person Tsunade would have him fight to test his strength since she knew that the two were the only ones who could test him in all areas.

''Sakura get ready,'' Tsunade said.

''You want me to participate too?''

''Yes...your former sensei and teammate have to see how far you have progressed with your own training.''

Naruto raised his brow seeing Sakura smile at the opportunity. ''Could not you have done that another day before this?'' he asked the blonde Hokage.

''What was that?'' Tsunade asked with narrowed eyes. There seemed to be an underlying threat between her words.

Apparently, Naruto was oblivious to it or he just did not fear the threat. ''I believe you could have done it another day. And you have her reports. So I don't see the point in having her fight.''

The others just looked at Naruto. Some had the same train of thoughts with him, but neither were willing to voice it out. They still liked their bodies as they were.

Jiraiya was willing to voice his own thoughts, ''he does have a point hime,'' he earned a glare from Tsunade. ''Plus if we really want to see how far Naruto has progressed with his training we should have him fight one on one...'' Jiraiya wanted to fight the blond himself, but Tsunade said he was overestimating Naruto's abilities if he thought he could handle a Sannin. Even if he could not handle him, fighting someone far stronger than him will force him to use everything he has to win. However, Tsunade failed to see the logic in that, despite having explained it to her abundantly.

''Who trained her anyway?'' Naruto asked quietly. The rest of the Konoha 12 just watched. They were seeing the new Naruto. He had definitely changed. His tone was calm and relaxed. No more were the goofy smiles. In fact, ever since he appeared, the only time he seemed to smile was when he looked at them. However, when he turned to Tsunade the small smile disappeared and was replaced by an expression that gave away nothing.

''Tsunade-sama did,'' Sakura replied feeling left out of the conversation. She was a little disappointed that Naruto was against the idea of having her participate in the fight. She wanted to show everyone what she had been doing over the past three years.

''No doubt she turned you into her copy like Guy did with Lee. Shinobi skills speaking of, that is,'' Naruto stated looking at Sakura. Both also had quick tempers. They could be quite a pair

'Did he just say that?' were the thoughts that ran through the minds of those observing.

'You could have been like me too,' Jiraiya thought sadly looking at Naruto. He would have turned Naruto into the next author of Icha Icha paradise had he not run away from him.

''What is that supposed to mean Naruto?'' Tsunade asked.

There seemed to be some danger within her words. But again, either Naruto missed it or just ignored, nobody knew as he answered. ''If Guy-san took an apprentice, you assume that the apprentice will be a taijutsu master, if Kurenai-san did the same, her student will be a genjutsu master. With Kakashi, you can't say because he would not bother,'' jaws dropped at those last words. Kakashi decided not to comment. It appears that his former student has a low opinion of him. ''Asuma-san I don't know since I know not his area of expertise. With Jiraiya, it is somewhere along the lines of toads and pervert.''

''Is it just me or is there something wrong with his picture,'' Kiba said. ''Naruto should not be speaking like that.'' Apparently, Kiba had only noticed that Naruto had changed. Akamaru barked, whether agreeing or disagreeing with his master, only Kiba could tell.

''Troublesome,'' Shikamaru said ignoring Kiba's words like everyone else. ''He did make an accurate assessment though. Sakura as Tsunade-sama's apprentice should specialize in areas her master specializes because that is all she can teach her. In this case, Sakura has become good in medical ninjutsu like her master and has taken her master's way of fighting. As Naruto put it, her copy.''

That was spot on. Indeed Tsunade had taught Sakura medical ninjutsu and how to use her chakra enhanced punches nothing else.

Tsunade sighed. A thought came at her mind and she smirked. ''Naruto I had planned to have you fight Kakashi, but I have changed my mind. You will fight Jiraiya,'' she was still smirking as she said those words. She wanted to see Jiraiya pummel him to the ground for his ''loud'' mouth.

Jiraiya smiled at this. He had been looking for this ever since Tsunade planned to have Naruto fight someone to see his strength.

Kakashi decided to interject, ''Tsunade-sama, don't you think that that is a bit too much for Naruto?''

''Are you questioning my decision Kakashi?'' Tsunade asked with narrowed eyes.

Saving himself, Kakashi replied quickly, ''no.''

''Good, get ready Naruto, Jiraiya.''

Naruto removed his cloak and handed it to Tsunade who placed it on her shoulder. ''I want to see everything you can do,'' Tsunade said to Naruto just to make him understand that he was to show everything he learned.

''I will give you what you need to judge my skills,'' Naruto stated moving towards Jiraiya. The perverted Sannin was waiting patiently for him.

''Is this really serious,'' someone said. ''Is he going to fight a Sannin? I mean Jiraiya-sama is the strongest in the village.''

''Just shut up and watch the battle.''

'Naruto-kun,' Hinata thought as she watched her beloved crush going into a battle with a Sannin. She had quite frankly missed him so much. Three years-three long years and she had not seen his smile that always brought bliss to her fragile heart. How happy was she to see that he had returned? And also he looked rather handsome. The thoughts turned her face bright red as she struggled to contain the steam that was surely trying to escape.

''Naruto-kun is full of youthful flames! Taking on the strongest in the village! If he wins I shall make him my eternal rival!'' Lee yelled enthusiastically not having the same train of thoughts as those who thought that match was unfair to Naruto. Lee thought no wrong in taking on the strongest to prove yourself.

''That's the spirit Lee!'' Guy said with his nice Guy pose. The others decided to ignore the two and focus on the fight that was to happen.

Naruto looked at his former sensei with an unreadable expression. It was always important to hide your thoughts to your opponent. If you allow your opponent to read your thoughts they can able to use them against and could easily predict your movements.

The pervert was looking at him calmly as if he was not to fight him. Jiraiya was busy trying to figure out what the blond might have learned other than Kenjutsu. He could not carry a sword around without having the skills to wield it. He knew that with someone like Naruto, he had to expect ninjutsu flying towards him because of his chakra reserves, that is if he had learned to make good use to it.

''Jiraiya, if you don't take this seriously, it will be a humiliating defeat for you,'' Naruto said his tone blank not betraying the impassive expression on his face.

Jiraiya scoffed, ''Like a brat like you can humiliate the great...''

While Jiraiya was still doing his pose, Naruto summoned a kunai from a tattoo on his left arm. He coated it with wind chakra and threw it towards Jiraiya at tremendous speed. The kunai interrupted Jiraiya's pose as the Sannin barely evaded the Kunai. He was surprised though when he saw part of his hair falling down the ground.

The Kunai Naruto had thrown went towards the trees and pierced through it before marching forwards to another. This shocked some as they had never seen a kunai do that. Asuma being a wind user had an idea of what Naruto did but he did not voice his thoughts.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto. Being an experienced shinobi as he was, he was able to deduce what Naruto had done, ''Wind chakra enhanced kunai,'' he said his eyes never leaving the blond. If that had not come dangerously close to spilling his brains out he would have been complaining about being interrupted while doing his pose. ''If I had not dodged that kunai it would have killed me,'' he said the playfulness in his tone gone.

The words shocked the observers. Would Naruto actually go for the kill? Even if it was just a sparring match to test his skill.

''Then you are lucky you dodged it. I should not be the one to teach you shinobi rules ''Jiraiya-sensei''. You took your eyes of me. That is something that is taught at the academy; never take your eyes off your opponent,'' Naruto said educating his former sensei.

''Hime had not said we could begin,'' Jiraiya said feeling a bit insulted because Naruto was trying to teach him something that he should be teaching the blond.

''You know it as well as I do, that in a battle there are no proctors. Shinobi do not fight fair. We use everything to our advantage. Those with honor are the few ones who fight fairly,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''Now Jiraiya, will we get this little show started?''

Tsunade now was seeing something different. The Naruto she had seen over the past two days was calm and reserved but he was not like what she was seeing now. He still had that kind and peaceful aura around him the past two days, but now there was nothing. Not a damn thing. He was just unreadable. She could not predict what he would say next or do next.

'He calls it a little show and yet he seemed to be taking it seriously,' someone thought looking at the blond haired Namikaze.

''You can begin anytime, I don't have all day here,'' Tsunade said impatiently at the two former sensei and student.

Jiraiya got into a stance while Naruto did nothing. ''Aren't you going take your stance,'' Jiraiya said looking at Naruto who stood like he was not about to fight.

''This is my stance,'' was the reply Jiraiya got from Naruto.

Simply nodding, Jiraiya waited for Naruto to attack. But Naruto did nothing, he just stared at him. He saw that he was not going to attack him. So he decided to take the first dance.

As soon as Jiraiya moved, Naruto did the same surprising the Sannin at how quickly Naruto was able to follow his movements. He had not moved at full speed, but still surprised that Naruto could still react that fast to his movements. It had only been a second since he moved and Naruto was coming towards as he was going after the blond.

They met in between from their previous positions. Jiraiya swung his left hand for a punch at Naruto's temple. The blond was fast and able to see Jiraiya's attack, thus able to block. He moved his right hand and positioned it at his right hand side. Jiraiya's punch collided with his well-put defense and came to a halt.

Jiraiya again, swung his right hand towards Naruto's temple. The same as before happened. Naruto blocked the punch with his left hand. Before Jiraiya could do anything else, Naruto pushed Jiraiya's right hand away forcibly. This gave him an opening he needed. He went for a head butt at the Sannin.

Jiraiya was not a Sannin for nothing. As Naruto's head was coming towards him, he leaned back. Balancing himself carefully before Naruto could react from missing his target, he moved his right leg in an attempt to kick Naruto on his face while he (Jiraiya) was still in a leaned back position. He placed much power he could on the kick.

Naruto quickly brought both his hands in front of him to make a hasty defense. He wanted to block Jiraiya's kick which would have definitely hurt his precious face had he not blocked it. The power of the punch pushed him backwards forcing him to lose his footing.

As he was about to hit the ground, Naruto used his hands as balance, so the rest of his body would not hit the ground. Naruto's middle body was positioned horizontally while both his legs and legs supporting it. He was like a four-legged animal, juts facing upwards.

Jiraiya took advantage of the situation and moved towards around. He jumped a few feet up in the air and attempted to punch Naruto on his chest. Naruto used his hands the way he should be using his legs. He raised both his feet and crossed them to put up a defense. The defense was successful in blocking Jiraiya's punch.

The force behind it caused small cracks on the ground where Naruto's hands were positioned. The Sannin jumped away from Naruto, allowing him to recover.

'Wow,' mostly watching could only say the single word.

''You have improved,'' Jiraiya said.

Naruto said nothing. That was to be expected if someone had taken time to train. Jiraiya was speaking as if he had not expected him to change. You don't train to remain the same, but train to become stronger. He had taken much of his time to train so that he may improve from where he was in terms of skill.

He shot towards the Sannin in low jounin speed. Jiraiya did the same-running towards Naruto. The Sannin was the first to attempt an attack. He sped his right hand for a right hook. Naruto ducked under the punch.

While he was ducking, he held out his right hand and formed a spiral ball on his hand. It was just as big as his hand. Very, very small for a** Rasengan**, ''Shit,'' Jiraiya cursed. 'That was fast,' he thought.

Naruto crashed the Rasengan on Jiraiya's gut. The Sannin disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto stood still narrowing his eyes at the nearby trees.

A second later Jiraiya jumped out of the tree he had observing his clone watch Naruto from. He looked at Naruto for a moment. The speed in which Naruto created that **Rasenga**n was impressive. Even for a smaller version of the jutsu, it was impressive. Even he could not form the jutsu in the seconds Naruto took to do it. It must have been 1 second or less. If he could do a smaller version of the **Rasengan** in that time, how fast could he do the normal version?

''How did you know it was a clone?'' he doubted that Naruto would have hit him with a **Rasengan** without knowing he was a clone. If it had been the real him he would been put out of commission by the hit.

''There are four things,'' Naruto begun. ''First, I'm not stupid enough to think that you would fight me head on at first without gauging the strength by a clone. It's the same tactic Kakashi uses. It is also obvious that you underestimate me. You obviously thought that a mere clone could do a little damage,'' well that was what Jiraiya had thought. He was a Sannin, and his clone could defeat a chunin. He was surprised though, that Naruto defeated his clone easily without receiving any hit.

''Second; you cannot fool me by a jutsu it took me an hour to learn, and execute perfectly,'' despite the words being said impassively, Jiraiya had a feeling that Naruto was not pleased with the fact that he had used a clone to fight him and that he tried to fool him with it.

''Third, the Hyuuga's had their doujutsu's activated. I caught their eye movements. In addition, Kakashi, Hokage-sama had already sensed you. Fourth, I was watching you.''

The moment those words left Naruto's mouth, shurikens flew towards Jiraiya. The Sannin looked behind him from the trees and looked at wave of shurikens flying towards him. He cursed. The shurikens hit Jiraiya dead on piercing him. But Jiraiya turned into a log in a puff of smoke. The log revealed that the Sannin had used a replacement jutsu in the last minute.

Jiraiya landed on a tree branch after replacing himself with a log. But before he could even sigh in relief another wave of shurikens came flying towards him. He cursed again and blurred away from the tree getting away from the projectiles path.

He appeared on the clearing his clone had been fighting Naruto. Just then he sensed something coming at him, fast. He did not have time to turnout as the projectile flew past him. He doubted that Naruto had missed him unless... His train of thoughts was stopped when he heard an explosion of smoke.

Naruto appeared in the smoke, **''Uzumaki dance**,'' he muttered. Jiraiya saw Naruto sending a flying kick towards his head and hastily brought out both his hands to block the kick. The kick broke through his defense and should have sent him flying. But before he could, he received another kick on his back. The Sannin again felt another hard kick on his gut which made him wince. Before he could do anything again, his legs got swept and he lost his footing. As he was about to hit the ground on his front, Naruto appeared under Jiraiya and delivered a hard kick on his chest that broke a rib sending the Sannin into the air.

All this happened in a seconds. The group observing only saw black blurs around a helpless Jiraiya. Guy knew that it must have been some sort of taijutsu, even though he had never seen it before. Kakashi did not even have time to lift his forehead protector.

Naruto appeared above Jiraiya in air. His right leg moved in speeds that not even the Sharingan could track. His kicks formed air pressures that were enhanced by his manipulation of wind. The air pressures shot towards Jiraiya upon being released. They hit Jiraiya painfully and sent him crashing towards the ground.

Naruto flashed through hand seals before raising his right hand, ''Wind Hammer.'' his right hand moved downwards like it was controlling some invincible force.

Just then, something heavy hit Jiraiya on the ground. This caused a crater to form where Jiraiya had fallen. The Sannin gave a low growl as he felt like the Hokage tower was thrown at him.

Naruto landed on the ground gracefully before turning away from Jiraiya. He walked towards the group who observing. They noticed the slightly bored and annoyed look on his face.

''Did Naruto just defeat a Sannin without a scratch?'' Ino asked in disbelieve.

''No,'' Surprisingly the answer came from Naruto himself as the girl spoke loud enough for him to hear. ''He should be waking up soon,'' he said.

''But you held back on the attack that sent him crashing down,'' Guy pointed out what the others did not see.

''You noticed,'' Naruto said. It was not a question.

''Where are you going Naruto? It will take more than that to defeat me,'' Jiraiya exclaimed standing up. His body was bruised from head to toe, but mostly from waist to shoulders. His mouth was leaking off some blood. He did not look to be in great deal of pain but he had a few broken ribs caused by Naruto's last jutsu.

Naruto narrowed his eyes back at Jiraiya. His eyes locked with Jiraiya's for a moment. He then looked away and continued walking.

The groups focus turned to Jiraiya as the perverted Sannin started to let loose of few perverted giggles. His nose started leak of some blood, and his eyes got a dreamy look in them. A second later, a heavy nosebleed and Jiraiya was out cold.

When Naruto heard Jiraiya's fall, he spoke, ''I did not answer your question clearly,'' he said looking at Ino. The others sweatdroped at his actions, lack of rather. He had completely disregarded Jiraiya. ''Jiraiya was not fighting me seriously. He was at most using 25% of his power. When he stood up from my last attack, it was then that he wanted to become serious. But I had already gotten bored in waiting for him to become serious,'' he explained earning a nod from Ino and some, though not all understood his words.

''So Hokage-sama, can I have my cloak back?''

Tsunade threw the cloak at Naruto who caught it. She then stalked off to an unconscious Jiraiya drawing the others attention. One would think that she was about to heal him, but, ''wake up your pervert!'' she yelled punching the perverted Sannin on his chest.

Jiraiya came to quickly and backed away from Tsunade despite being in heavy pain. ''What the hell happened? You were supposed to fight him so I could see what he has learned. And you could not become serious.''

''Hime wait,'' Jiraiya said holding up both his hands in defense, ''he used my weakness against me, and I could have still fought after his last attack.''

''Why did you not fight seriously at the beginning?''

''Well, Naruto was not completely serious either,'' he said defending himself.

''Huh?''

''He was holding back even with that last attack. He did not even draw out his sword.''

He explained but that did not save him from Tsunade. She punched him on his face while he was not expecting it. The punch sent him flying away. When he crashed to the ground, he was already unconscious.

''Naruto,'' she called to the blond. ''Come and see me and my office later on,'' she said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

''What was that last move,'' Guy asked Naruto beating everything from saying anything.

**''Uzumaki Dance**, I created it,'' Naruto replied to the green jounin. Seeing that Guy wanted more he spoke again. ''It's a taijutsu technique. To be executed the way I did, it requires speed and wind manipulation.''

''That was most youthful Naruto-kun. You should teach me that technique,'' Lee exclaimed taking over from his sensei.

''Lee, I did say that it requires wind manipulation.''

It took a few moments to fully understand what Naruto meant, and when he did he gave the only response he could, ''oh...''

''So when did your return Naruto?'' Shikamaru asked trying not to at least sound bored.

''Two days ago,'' Naruto responded calmly looking at the group. He had not noticed it before, Akamaru had now grown quite big since he was last the dog.

''Chouji, Kiba, Neji, Shino, Tenten, Lee, Shikamaru, Hinata, how are you guys?'' Naruto asked getting back to the skipped greetings. The people Naruto called smiled while others nodded. Hinata smiled slightly and looked away.

An eyebrow rose from Naruto seeing the girl look away from him, 'she still does that? I thought she would have gained some confidence by now,' he thought to himself.

''Hey what about me? Don't you want to know how I am doing?'' Ino somewhat yelled at the blond.

''Ino, I have already seen you and Sakura before,'' Naruto spoke looking at the girl. Ino just huffed crossing her hands on her chest.

''Hey guys why don't we all go out today and, it has been long time since we all gathered,'' Sakura suggested happily. But she became saddened a bit she realized they would not all be gathered since, Sasuke would not come. She had only seen him once or twice in the past 6 months and all times, he seemed to shrug her off.

''That's a good idea Sakura. We can meet at the BBQ restaurant at 8,'' Chouji said happily thinking of the food he would eat with everyone else.

''This is troublesome,'' Shikamaru said with a yawn. ''I will see you tonight then,'' he said walking away not before sending a last glance at Naruto.

The others waved at Naruto goodbye. Hinata looked to have something to say but she quickly hurried away as soon as she locked her eyes with Naruto making the blond sigh and shake is head.

He noticed that Sakura was still waiting, ''Hey Naruto, do you want to get some ramen?'' she asked with a small smile.

If Naruto was surprised he hid it too well, ''some other time Sakura,'' he politely turned her down.

Sakura then noticed the lack of -chan when Naruto called her. She had missed it yesterday when Naruto called her name. ''Oh,'' she said her smiling dropping. ''Some other time then,'' she said walking away.

Naruto turned to the jounin's who had been conversing amongst themselves to give his friends some time to say hello. He looked at where Jiraiya had fallen after being punched buy Tsunade. He did not see the pervert anywhere. He figured he must have went away.

''Yo,'' Kakashi called snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

''Kakashi,'' Naruto said looking straight at the jounin. He still had his orange precious on his hand. ''I see you are still the same,'' he said.

Kakashi merely shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly in response. It said it all about the man. He did not care if he changed or not. He was who he was.

''You have gotten stronger,'' he commented.

''And it took you three days to say that,'' Naruto said knowing that the copy nin had known he had returned. The man had ''watched'' him for the past days. Once was yesterday while he was at the ramen stand.

Kakashi smiled, and scratched the back of his head, ''ma ma Naruto, I was giving you some time to familiarize yourself with the village...'' he gave another lame excuse.

Naruto did not bother to respond he looked at Asuma who was about to say something, ''Kurenai, he is going to be a lady killer, don't you think?''

The genjutsu mistress felt at a loss of words on the question. A few moments later, she nodded. He was indeed a handsome young man. She looked at him carefully and only thought with a nod, 'indeed'.

Guy being the only serious jounin spoke next, ''Naruto you should come and train with me and Lee sometimes,'' he said. After seeing Naruto's taijutsu, he wanted to train with Naruto. He also saw that Naruto' taijutsu was good despite seeing it for a few minutes. Lee would surely learn something, so will Naruto.

''Sure,'' Naruto agreed with a small smile. This caused the other three jounin to look at him as if he was crazy.

Kakashi got over it quickly, ''why don't you join us at the jounin's lounge tonight, Naruto.''

Now that was a surprise. ''yes, it is no doubt that Tsunade-sama will make a a jounin. Jiraiya-sama might not have been fighting seriously, but you cannot deny that he is skilled.''

''I have other plans tonight, next time perhaps,'' Naruto stated. ''Ja ne,'' he said and disappeared into nothingness.

''He sure has changed a lot,'' Kurenai commented after Naruto left, earning a nod from her fellow jounin.

"What do you think knocked out Jiraiya-sama?''

''It was genjutsu,'' Kurenai said. ''Naruto must have shown him something perverted. You did see how happy he seemed.''

Kakashi remembered Naruto's infamous Orokie no jutsu. ''I wonder what he showed him,'' Kakashi thought aloud.

**Afternoon, Hokage Office**

''You wished to see me Hokage-sama,'' Naruto reported after having an ANBU at his home report to him that he was wanted by the Hokage.

''I thought I told you to come and see,'' the Godaime Hokage stated looking straight at Naruto.

''You did, but did not specify at what time,'' Naruto responded coolly leaving the Hokage to glare at him before sighing.

''Can you at least tell me what else you trained in. I did not see you anything that satisfied me.''

Naruto sighed, well it would not hurt to tell her something but not everything. ''I learned fuinjutsu, kenjutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu and also taijutsu.'' he paused for a moment. ''With Ninjutsu I learned wind jutsu. My fuinjutsu is good, I am better than Jiraiya with that regard. My kenjutsu and taijutsu are both good, I would say jounin level. Ninjutsu is kage level.''

Tsunade stared, then blinked, ''is that all true?'' Naruto said nothing. He merely looked at her blankly.

The Godaime Hokage rubbed her temples, ''you know with what I saw today, I cannot possibly say that you are jounin level. However, I will take Jiraiya's word for it. He said you deserve the rank. Guy, Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi all agreed,'' she paused smiling. ''So congratulations Naruto, you have now become a jounin. I am sure that the council will be knocking at my door when they find out about this, but I will handle them."

Naruto nodded. Tsunade threw him his jounin vest. ''Before you leave Naruto. We have never gotten a chance to be alone since you returned,'' Tsunade said getting up from her chair. She walked towards Naruto and engulfed him in a warm hug. Naruto was a little surprised by her action; nonetheless, he wrapped his hands embracing her. ''I missed you Naruto. When Jiraiya told me that you had run away, I became scared. I did not want to think of something bad happening to you because I did not want to lose you too,'' she said a soft tone. ''I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I have lost much in my life, I don't want to lose you too.''

Naruto smiled warmly embracing the Godaime, ''I missed you too. But I did what I did for the better. It was not my intention to worry you. I wanted to become strong for my sake, for the sake my cause, and so that I could not feel powerless when those I value are in danger,'' he paused for a moment. ''But do not worry. I will never leave without telling you.''

''Promise me, Naruto,'' Tsunade said breaking the embrace as she looked at Naruto's eyes.

Naruto leaned closer to the Hokage and placed a kiss on her forehead before smiling genially at her, ''I promise,'' he said letting her go before disappearing.

**That night**

The night had still been young when Naruto actually got bored, but he could not leave his friends. Just for this once he would endure their topics. The group lacked intellectual conversations. It was not wrong to talk about something else that is amusing and doing things for amusement. There was nothing wrong with that. He just preferred conversations that were of good use than for amusement.

The night had begun pleasantly well, Naruto was sitting between Hinata and Neji. Everyone in the Konoha 12 had come, all except for Sasuke. The guys no longer considered him as one of them, that was why they had decided to call themselves the Konoha 11. Ino and Sakura were the only ones who seemed to object to that decision. But then again, their thoughts did not seem to matter to the group. They had been Sasuke's fans since from the beginning, it was not surprising that they would object to the thought.

Naruto was surprised to find that the main reason the group had decided to remove Sasuke as one of them was because of what Sasuke had done to him. But it did not matter to him since that ''Sasuke'' who did it was dead. The Sasuke that existed now was Itachi's brother. The one that died was his friend and brother. Another reason was that not everyone actually liked that spoiled Uchiha. No, that's coloring it. None of the guys liked the Uchiha, they disliked his ass.

Because Hinata had been seated close to him, she had a red face most of the night and had passed out once. Naruto had been surprised that she could stay that close to him and only lose her consciousness once. That had been an improvement from her past record.

Naruto was mostly asked about his training trip. Everyone was interested in what he had been doing for the past three years. They had all looked at him waiting for answers. He was able to give the answers, they wanted to hear. But he was sure to leave out important details. He had told them something's about how hard he trained. Lee had been happy about that part upon hearing about his training methods. While he did tell them minor details about his training, he never told them where and who he was with.

Shikamaru had been surprised at the fact that Naruto did not reveal that little detail. Well not entirely surprised. He was the one who did notice that Naruto never said anything about where he was. His other friends were interested in how strong the blond had become and his change. The last part was nothing new to him though, he was very much aware that Naruto was not stupid.

The first hour at the BBQ restaurant was the only good part of the meeting...reunion.

Neji happened to have been the only one who made jounin in the group. The rest were chunin. Well that changed when Naruto became a jounin. But that did not change the fact that he had become jounin faster than anyone in their group. Sasuke was not counted as he was no longer a part of the group.

Neji was a Hyuuga prodigy that was expected. It was no surprise to Naruto either. Despite his previous mentality, no one could deny that Neji was skilled. He stood high above the other genins, that was what he had become before Naruto came back. He was high above the other's. It was not only about his skills, it was also about the way he conducted himself.

He was respectable, calm a bit cold. But he had the mentality of a jounin and was a lot more mature than the rest of the group. But now that Naruto had come and was a lot mature than he had been in his genin days, he was matured in the same league as Neji. Perhaps Naruto understood the shinobi world better than Neji did.

Naruto had been made to watch the horrors of war by Itachi. The Uchiha had placed him in a genjutsu and made him see what he saw in his young age during The Third Shinobi World War. He had said it was good for his ''education'' and also would help him understand what the world a bit better.

And then Naruto became bored. A few noticed that he was bored. The subject was just random staff that Naruto was not the least interested in. Perhaps he could be called her could be called rude, but he could not pretend to be interested in the subject of conversation. He was past that time were he pretended many things.

It was then that the topic was changed, the genin days. Those days of a loud mouth idiot blond. That had made many laugh recalling the memories. That was a bit not boring. But still not the kind of conversation Naruto would have liked to have. Well at least it did manage to put a smile on his face.

Still, he thought he had overgrown the kind of meetings. Perhaps it was what he should have been doing because of his age. He should be enjoying his life while he has the chance. That if he was someone else. He was Namikaze Naruto, a born protector and hero of Konoha. From the day he was born, his life had been changed. He was beyond normal.

Perhaps at times he would shower himself with some form of entertainment. But his joy came from seeing those he cares for smiling, happy. That is what would make him proud and happy. Surely anyone would be happy knowing that they have succeeded in protecting what is close to their hearts.

''Neji come to my house when you are free,'' Naruto said walking out of the restaurant. The night had already grown old, so it was time for home. Tenten had been the first to leave with Lee. Her reason was that she did not want Lee to drink something he should not. If they had stayed any longer, he would have surely drank something and do something disastrous.

The others glanced at Naruto curiously. Neji just nodded stoically before walking away with Hinata. The latter seemed not to want to leave, but he insisted that they leave because it was already late. Her father would be displeased if they went back home too late. Hinata sadly agreed and walked home with her cousin.

''So Naruto, when did you become friends with Neji?'' that was a question by Shikamaru. Naruto never seemed to get well with Neji. So he was curious as to why Naruto would want Neji to be at his house. He could have just put his mind to work, but that would be troublesome, hence his question.

''You have a good mind, put it to use,'' Naruto replied not answering Shikamaru's question.

This left Shikamaru with a sigh, ''well it was good seeing the real you,'' the Nara heir said with a small smile. ''I will see you around Naruto,'' he said with a hand wave walking away.

''Bye Naruto,'' Chouji said following Shikamaru from behind. Naruto nodded at him before disappearing also.

**End of chapter 6…..**

**You must hate me for not showing much of Naruto's fight and power. That was not even a fight. That was just like a teaser, but you will eventually see get to see him fight soon. For be patient and enjoy the story if you like it.**

**This story will not be another harem story. And I don't think that we will have the council pulling all sorts of things at Naruto. **

**As for pairings…I still don't know. I will make a choice in the next coming chapters.**

**As I said in the last chapter, Itachi will still be around. Naruto still needs him. but he won't be returning back to Konoha.**

**The real story will begin next chapter, it will start slow though.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

A smile found its way across Naruto's face. Only one thought came into his mind when he saw the black crow standing on top of one of his flowers.

Itachi

So finally, Itachi had come to Konoha. It had only been a week and a half since he returned to Konoha. Nothing serious has been happening as of yet. He had been staying inside the walls of the village. There were no missions for him to do. Tsunade seemed reluctant to allow him to do any higher ranked mission. She was only willing to give him C-rank and lower. But with the boredom that had taken refuge within him, he was surely going to have to take the missions.

Going outside the village would be pleasant.

He walked over to the crow and stretched out his hand. The crow flew onto his stretched hand. He locked eyes with it. He knew where Itachi was waiting for him. He was probably not taking any chance by coming into his house. He would not have minded though if Itachi had come. He would have set up privacy seals just to make sure that no one eavesdropped while they talked.

He was also positive that Itachi knew the layout of the village to be able to come in and out without anyone noticing. But with how things were, he could understand Itachi's reasoning in staying out of the village.

He had given Itachi the Hiraishin Kunai, he was wondering why the Uchiha had not used it. Oh...how forgetting of him. Itachi had said he would only use it on emergencies. So anything that was not a life and death matter, he would not be using the Kunai.

Sighing, Naruto burst into a flock of crows.

Itachi had chosen a good place for them to meet. It was just outside of Konoha, but nowhere near where ANBU kept constant watch over the village. ANBU always patrolled near the village walls, especially at night. Good thing it was still day.

''I was wondering when you would come,'' Naruto said walking over to the stoic Uchiha who was seated on a tree branch.

''You have grown bored already?'' Itachi asked. To him it sounded like, 'what took you so long?'. He assumed that Naruto had already grown bored with being around Konoha.

''Yes,'' Naruto said with a nod. He stopped walking and sat down leaning against the tree Itachi was sitting on. ''There is nothing interesting to do inside the village. The only thing that seems to keep entertained are a few sparring sessions with Guy and Lee,'' he explained his eyes staring down the ground.

Odd, they never did the greetings like every normal people did. They just moved on with the flow. Well they were not normal people. Their conversations weren't like what other people had. There was no need for greetings. If Itachi was not well, he could have already seen it. And if he was not well, Itachi would have seen it without him saying anything. That was how it was.

''You are training with Guy?'' Itachi asked with a raised brow.

''Yes, despite his ridiculous training methods, he is a taijutsu master-something I am not. I can learn something from him.''

''You never do stop training,'' Itachi said shaking his head slightly. Naruto always wanted to become strong. He was always training. He always wanted to find new ways to become strong. The blond always spent his time trying to invent new things that even he could not understand and creating jutsu's that he could not even hope to learn.

''There can never be too much of training. Each day we always learn something new, we always improve on ourselves,'' Naruto responded not even looking up to Itachi as he did. ''...because we are alive.''

''Yes,'' the international criminal admitted. ''But you have to know your limits. When you become too engrossed with training, becoming strong and gaining the knowledge of the world, it will change you and you will become obsessed it.''

''Speaking of Orochimaru?''

''He is a prime example. All his life, he has been obsessed with gaining everything there is and learning all jutsu's in the world. Look at where he is now,'' it was no secret that Orochimaru of the snake Sannin was obsessed with gaining all the knowledge of the world. His obsession has led him to do so many experiments on himself and others.

''Correct,'' Naruto said. ''But that is because Orochimaru was messed up from the beginning. He has no moral values and loves too much power.''

''Aren't you messed up from birth? What about when you have gained too much power? Will you not think back of your childhood and reason that with the power you have you can change everything, make those who pained you suffer?''

''That will depend,'' Naruto said not denying anything Itachi had said. ''on my mindset. With the correct mindset and someone to always put me in correct path, someone to remind me of my purpose...something like that can never happen.''

''Understand this, Naruto,'' Itachi said. ''You will not always have someone to guide you and support you. There will be times where you have to find your way on your own; times where you have to stand on your own without anyone helping you out.''

''I know that,'' the blond haired Namikaze said casting his eyes over the green trees. The Fire country was lively. If he could enter Sage mode, he could feel it perfectly and be one with it.

''What are you planning now?'' Itachi asked getting to business.

This was why he liked Itachi. They talked serious matters. ''Nothing as of yet,'' Naruto answered. ''My plans will depend on the shape and mindset of the Elemental Nations over the next month.''

''You think things will change from what they are now?''

''Yes, I believe so.''

Itachi merely nodded. ''In the mean time, I have something for you.''

Naruto waited for what Itachi had for him.

''I am just coming from Amegakure. I spoke to Konan,'' Itachi said. ''I told her you would visit her and I believe you will. She will be a good friend on your path and someone who will always support you, should you convince her to join you.''

So like Itachi to look out for him. ''When did you say I would visit?''

''I did not say. I just made sure that she was expecting your visit.''

''I will make time,'' Naruto said and paused for a moment. ''Has she finished rebuilding Ame?''

Itachi shook his head, ''no, but it will be soon. She had some difficulties because during Pein's reign, the village was not allied with any other. Therefore, she had no help from other villages.''

''It must have been hard for her doing all that alone.''

''She was doing it alone at first. But after I told spoke with her some time ago, she got help from those she leads.''

''Let me guess, you told her that speech about one not being able to achieve anything on your own.''

''Yes...do you not agree?'' Itachi asked sensing something from Naruto's words.

''No, it just amuses me how you get passionate when you speak about it. But I guess it is because it is one of your biggest mistake that led you to realize that.''

''You will also make mistakes and learn something from them.''

''Perhaps...''

''Are you afraid?'' Itachi asked suddenly out of nowhere.

''Of what?''

''Failure. All your predecessors have so far failed. The path you have chosen to take is not an easy one. None have succeeded. Those who failed were even greater than you, as you are now.''

''Once a man comforts to fear, he cannot move on, he cannot see a way forward. Fear can cripple even the greatest of the great. It can be the difference between life and death, success and failure,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''When fear of failure consumes you, you start to question yourself; what if I fall? Will everyone laugh at me? Will I even succeed? Nobody as yet has passed, what is special about me? Will I lose everything if I fail?''

''But you know what, Nii-san?'' Naruto looked up to the heavens. ''I am not afraid. If I perish, I perished trying. If I fail once, I will get up again and try to succeed until there is no life in me.''

The words were said with so much conviction, that Itachi smiled for a moment and adopted a proud look on his face. Not that Naruto could see it. He said nothing further to what the blond had said. There was no need to. He had said it all.

''Someone is coming,'' Naruto said getting on his feet.

Itachi nodded, ''I sense him too,'' the chakra felt familiar, so much familiar.

''I will teleport to the hideout in a few days to tell you of when I will see Konan so we could go together,'' Naruto said looking at Itachi. By the look on the Uchiha, he knew who it was that was coming. Perhaps the person had an Itachi radar with him. He did not comment though, it was not important.

Itachi nodded and gave a last glance to where he was sensing the familiar chakra. Without another word, he disappeared in a flock of crows. Naruto did not bother to look at the direction Itachi had glanced at...

He did not care and it was not of importance to him. He simply just disappeared in a yellow flash. He did not leave his scent or chakra signature...not even a trace of it.

**Naruto's house**

Though he never showed it, he was quite excited to visit Amegakure. Itachi had informed him a little about Konan, he wanted to know more about her. He was curious. She was the only female member of the Akatsuki, had been living with a guy who had a god complex. He had been told she rarely spoke during the Akatsuki meetings which meant she had to be one serious woman. She was also an orphan who lived through the Second and Third Shinobi World War.

All that made up for something that spelled interesting to him.

A small smile flicked through his face. Yap, the meeting was bound to be interesting for sure. He just had to make time to go there. If he could get Tsunade to give him a solo mission outside the village, he could go to Amegakure after completing the mission.

His cause was still being delayed by the fact that he had yet to make a name for himself. He was not going to use his Namikaze name to gain fame. He was his own man; he would make his own fame by doing great things.

Speaking of his name, the night he had met with his friends, he never told them that the Yondaime was his father. It was quite amusing when he saw Sakura's expression after she had learned of his heritage from Tsunade. She had called his friends to inform them because he had not. He did not think it was much of a big deal. Perhaps when he had been younger, he would have thought so. But now, he thought differently.

He understood that his father's achievements were his. He may be a son to him, but his achievements were reached through his own efforts. He would also achieve many things through his efforts. Boasting that he was the son of Konoha's greatest hero would do him no good. But living to become greater than the greatest hero in Konoha would.

There was also the fact that he did not want to live under his father's shadow, like Konohamaru did living under the shadow of his grandfather.

Not all his friends had been shocked to hear the revelation though. Well it was obvious with his looks and it was just a matter of time before the villagers realized it too. It would not matter to him though.

Naruto walked slowly to his study. He closed the door behind him and went behind his desk. He picked up a blank scroll and began scribing his book.

**Later that afternoon**

''That was another good training, Naruto-kun!'' Guy exclaimed happily looking at blond who was on seated beside Lee looking heavily tired. ''Your speed never ceases to amaze me. It's hard to believe you started training to increase your speed three-years ago. If you had started the same time as Lee, you would probably have been just fast as me without my weights,'' truly he was impressed. Not even his eternal rival could match him in speed and force him to release his weights...well not all of them. Still, Naruto was in the same league in speed with Lee when the Latter was not wearing his weights.

Naruto shook his head smiling weakly, ''with your speed, I might have to start wearing weights again just to catch up on you. You are way faster than me and for me to be able to contend with your speed I have to use chakra to enhance my own speed,'' he said looking at the green beast of Konoha. In all truth the guy was a freak when it came to speed. He had thought Itachi was fast. But no, Guy was a lot faster. Well he was a taijutsu master; that is to be expected from someone like him.

He still had not yet tested his speed while in Sage mode with the green beast, but he would not try that anytime soon. As far as everyone in Konoha was concerned, he did not know Senjutsu, not even Jiraiya knew. The toads had not told him, yet.

''You should be proud of what you have achieved,'' Guy said, this time his voice was down. ''It takes years and hard work to make it to the top. You are still young. I have no doubt that in the next years, you and Lee will be the fastest Shinobi in Konoha,'' he did not know that Naruto could go faster with the Hiraishin. The blond had kept it to himself that he could use the Flying Thunder God Technique. Only Tsunade, Jiraiya and possibly Kakashi knew. He liked it that way. He wanted to keep it as one of his ace cards.

Lee smiled brightly looking at his sensei, ''you mean that Guy-sensei?'' he asked feeling quite happy that his beloved sensei had said he could become the fasted in Konoha in a few years.

''Yes my student,'' Guy answered smiling at his green student. ''I have no doubt that with your guts and determination you will surpass me in speed and taijutsu.''

''Yosh! I shall-'' before Lee could finish his sentence, Naruto cut him off.

''Lee,'' Naruto said calmly. ''You weren't just about to say that you were going to train harder than you have been, were you?''

Lee scratched his head nervously making Naruto shake his head. ''How many times have we gone through this Lee? I told you, you cannot add more weight to your current training regime, or your body won't be able to handle it.''

He had placed a gravity seal on Lee to increase his speed. Since Lee could not utilize the little chakra he had, he had designed the seal especially for Lee. But like all gravity seals, it carried some risks. Lee had to train at a given program that Naruto had designed. This would ensure that his body did not take in more than he could handle. Lee also wore his weights while he had the gravity seal on him. That put a lot of strain on his body, more specifically his muscles. Should he over do it, his muscles would tear at every part of his body, little by little. And Lee would only notice it when it was too later. If something like that was to happen, Lee would never become a shinobi again, considering what Gaara had done to him during the Chunin exams.

The gravity seal Naruto had created was special in some sense because it did not restrict parts of Lee's body, it restricted his entire body. If a Hyuuga could look at Lee with their Byakugan, he/she could see a seal around Lee's entire body. The seal also restricted Lee's movements and ''pulled'' him down each time he got used to the restriction. That meant that the more Lee trained, the more the seal restricted his body. Like everything else, a body had its own limits. With each increase in restriction, his body would also be reaching its limits.

Lee might not feel it on his body, that he had reached his limit before something goes wrong. Even the gravity seal does not know when the body will reach its limit. That is why it will continue to add more weight and restricting Lee.

Because of this, he had designed the seal to function for a month before giving out. Once that is accomplished, Lee could train as hard as he could because he would no longer have the gravity seal on him. However, the results would be satisfactory.

''I get carried away sometimes,'' Lee said.

''You will train as hard as you want after three more weeks. I just need you to follow that program I gave you and everything will be all right. After I take off the seal, you will see the difference,'' Naruto explained to Lee.

Lee nodded but he was happy. He could not wait for the three weeks to be complete so he could see how fast he had become.

''Listen to Naruto-kun, Lee,'' Guy said agreeing with Naruto. He had listened carefully when Naruto explained the dangers of using the gravity seal he had designed. As much as he loved his student and wanted him to become strong, he did not want him to kill his shinobi career carelessly by doing something he was told abundantly not to do.

''We also don't want you injured before the exam,'' Guy stated smiling. In the next month, a few chunins were going to take the jounin exams within the village. Lee being only skilled in taijutsu had to improve as much as he could before he took the exams to have more chances of succeeding.

''Sorry Guy-sensei...I will be careful from now on...'' Lee said.

Guy nodded and turned to Naruto who was picking up his sword. ''How good are you with it? I have never seen you use it before,'' he asked the blond.

''I have not tested myself against some hailed as a kenjutsu master, but my skills with a sword are about jounin-level. As for using it, I rarely use it even though I walk everywhere with it.''

Guy nodded, ''so I guess you were given it as a gift,'' he deduced. The only way someone would carry a blade such as the Sword of the Thunder God without even attempting to use it whenever he/she got into a fight was if it was a gift. This meant that Naruto valued it highly and would only use it to someone he feels worthy of it.

''Yes,'' Naruto said not denying anything. ''Besides, there is no one in Konoha who can test me in Kenjutsu. Kakashi no longer uses a blade and the only person who was a Kenjutsu master in the village was killed during the chunin exams about three years ago.''

''I might help you with that,'' a lazy voice of Kakashi said appearing into the training ground.

Naruto raised a brow at the man's appearance. He had certainly not sensed the man when he appeared. Perhaps it was because he was relaxed with the two and was tired. But even when he was relaxed, he should have sensed his former sensei. Well the man was a former ANBU, he could still surprise him.

''Ah, Kakashi my eternal rival. When did you get here?'' Guy asked happily not bothered by his presence.

''A few minutes ago,'' the famed copy ninja replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder.

''You can still use a sword like you used to?'' Naruto asked. He had never seen the man use a sword before, but he had been told that before Kakashi got his Sharingan he used to carry a sword, even when he was ANBU and was very good with it.

''Yes, but I doubt I would be of much challenge to you,'' Kakashi replied looking at Naruto. ''However, I do know someone who can help you.''

''Who?''

Kakashi merely smiled at the blond, ''You will see her,'' he said.

''So it's a she...'' Naruto concluded. He looked at Guy and Lee, ''I will see you tomorrow,'' he said and disappeared into nothingness.

Guy looked at Kakashi curiously. The seemed to be some emotions that ran through his face when Naruto disappeared without even giving sparing him a glance. He guessed the reason the jounin had come to the training ground was to speak with Naruto.

Shaking his head, he walked over to the jounin and patted him on his shoulder. Kakashi merely smiled weakly.

''Lee, let's go do your afternoon laps,'' the green beast said to his student.

''Hai Guy-sensei.''

Kakashi watched them go about their business with a slight sad look on his face. If he had not messed things up when he had the chance, he would have been also doing laps or something of that line with Naruto. He would have been like an older brother to the blond, but he failed to do anything.

He was a failure.

Without another word, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves to the memorial stones.

**Memorial stones**

Kakashi was surprised to see Naruto at the memorial stones. He had only seen him once at this place, even so then, he did not look like someone who was having regrets, or mourning. He was just there looking at the stones with a blank stare. He could never figure what the blond had in his mind.

''I knew that if I disappeared like that, you would come here,'' Naruto said suddenly not even looking at Kakashi.

The famed jounin silently walked towards Naruto and stood beside him, but said nothing. What could he say?

''It is what you do, right? Each time you try to speak with me, I simply shut the door on your face never giving you any chance to say what you wish to say,'' the blond paused for a moment and looked at the heavens. 'It's about to rain,' he thought. During his training with Guy, the clouds had begun to gather around.

''Each time I did that, you came here to confess, remind yourself of how much of a failure you are. Each time that happened, I simply watched with disinterest. I never thought of helping you while you drown in your sorrows. Do you know why?'' he paused again taking his off the heavens. ''I did not pity you enough to bring myself to help you. To be quite frank seeing you repeatedly confess you were sorry was not the least amusing and not a sight I want to keep seeing. And that is why we are here today.''

Kakashi remained quiet, it appeared that Naruto was not done speaking. He still wanted to speak, he would say something when given the chance.

''Do you know what I thought each time I watched your ''therapy sessions?'' pathetic. I asked myself, was this the man trained by my father? Was this the man many consider as the strongest in the village? Was this the man my father saw as someone who could succeed him as Hokage? The answer was no,'' Naruto continued speaking before pausing. ''What I was seeing was a pathetic man with serious mental issues. I was seeing a man who was lost in his own failures. So Kakashi, say what you wish to say.''

Kakashi did not respond immediately. Naruto was not being gentle with him, he was quite harsh and frank. He had not expected their conversation to begin the way it had. Regardless, this was his chance.

''Naruto,'' he said after a few minutes of silence. The called blond was waiting patiently for the jounin to speak. ''Sensei was more than just a teacher to me. He treated me like family. And I saw him as someone to look up to. He was always there for me, my teammates. When your mother became pregnant with you, sensei was overjoyed. I too was happy, by that time I had already lost all my teammates and the only friend I had was Guy. I was happy that I would have someone to call a little brother.

''But sensei died. I had already lost my mother, father, but my father's death was the one to have affected me the most. My teammates were dead already. And when your father died, it was too much for me. Everyone I cared for had died and I could not do anything to save them. I thought I would make up for my failures by looking after you since sensei was gone, but the Sandaime forbid it. He told me to stay away from you.

''For years, I had to watch you tormented by the hatred from the villagers. The fact that I could do nothing reminded me of how much of a failure I was. When you entered the Academy, I knew that one day you would graduate. It was my chance to make up for my failures. I quit ANBU and returned to serving Konoha as jounin. When I became your sensei, I was happy...but again I failed to teach you anything.''

''Sensei taught me his signature jutsu, I as your former sensei even failed to do that. I even told Jiraiya-sama that it was not a good idea to teach you the **Rasengan** after I had seen you use it,'' he chuckled dryly. ''But that was after I had taught Sasuke my own signature jutsu. I saw it wrong for you to be taught something that would help you survive as at the time the Akatsuki were still hunting you. With Sasuke I knew that he would use the jutsu to kill...well that is what I created the jutsu for anyway.''

Naruto listened to Kakashi's words silently making no interruptions while the jounin spoke.

''Between you and Sasuke, you were the one who deserved to be taught the jutsu. Nevertheless, I failed to see that too.''

So he was not blaming the council for ordering him to teach Sasuke something useful, that was good. Naruto thought.

''When I saw you return from your training, I was happy to see that you had grown, not just physically but mentally as well. You reminded me much of sensei. Even so, I asked myself, did you still need me as your sensei? Would you even accept me as your sensei? Was I even worthy to be your sensei?'' the jounin paused for a moment. ''The answer I got was no to everything question. Whoever trained you, trained you well. I might not yet have seen what you can do, but I do know that you are strong. You seemed confident when taking on Jiraiya. Someone like you who is not arrogant can only be confident because you know you could handle Jiraiya. All I could say when I looked at you, was that you had been trained well despite not seeing the extent of your abilities. I have watched you spar with Guy and Lee. From that I knew that you have been trained better that I could have,'' again Kakashi paused before continuing. ''But I think I like it that way. I would not have trained you better.''

''Do you think I hate you Kakashi? Do you think I resent you because I simply watched you drawn in your own pity?'' he shook his head as he spoke. ''No, I do not hate you. However, I am human. I have feelings. Despite how we view the world, our mentality, or the fact that we are trained killers, we are still humans. We will feel certain things. I who was known as the kindest person was and is capable of feeling hatred. Why? Because I live, I am human. The difference is what I do when I feel hatred and anger. Do I let that control me? Do I allow that to cloud my judgment?'' he looked up at the heavens again. 'Any moment now,' he thought and waited. Just then, a few drops' came down and danced on him. 'And so it begins,' he did not care if it was raining on him.

''The other difference is that I am here talking to you. I am listening to what you have to say. You have also been patient even when I seemed no to care about what you wanted to say to me. If I had simply allowed my emotions towards you to rule everything, I would not have bothered to be here. But because I do not allow my emotions to rule over my rational thinking, I am here.''

Seeing that Naruto was done, Kakashi spoke, ''you might not hate me as you say, but how do I forgive myself for being a failure? How do I try to change the disappointment that I am?''

Naruto shook his head. ''I am not here to help you solve problems you have been having before I could even speak. Nevertheless, what I can tell you is that, if you continue walking on that path, your life will be on an impasse. There will be no moving forward. You will never be happy, you will remain miserable until you die. Acceptance is the only way forward,'' he paused for a moment holding out his hands for the rain to dance on his palms. ''You are like a man holding out his hands allowing acid to fall onto his hands. Little by little, the acid will consume his hands. Little by little your inability to forgive yourself will eat you away until,'' he flicked his hand allowing the water to fall off his hand, ''you allow yourself to be killed in battle because you see no way forward.''

Kakashi quietly listened to Naruto. Even after the blond had stopped talking, he remained quiet for a moment. He did not mind that rain was falling on him. There were more important matters than that. ''Before I came to here, I had thought about this conversation. You were supposed to have been like my adoptive brother. When that failed, you were to be my student. Even that failed. What I can only ask is to be your friend, nothing else.''

''That sounds acceptable,'' Naruto replied not giving it a second thought. He never waited to see Kakashi's reaction to his words, he simply disappeared in a yellow flash.

Kakashi smiled slightly and looked at the names he usually came to stare at, ''Rin, Obito, sensei, you must have always wanted to punch me each time you saw me come here to tell you of my failures,'' his smile turned to that of a said one. ''I am sorry,'' he said and disappeared from the face of the memorial stone.

Naruto's house

Dealing with Kakashi was done and dusted. Now he could look forward to other things. There was much on his plate that he had to deal with. But the situation with Kakashi needed to be dealt with before anything else. He never liked leaving things being uncertain. He had already dealt with his issues with Tsunade and Jiraiya.

His former ''sensei'' was the only one left to deal with. He was quite disappointed in Kakashi, though. He had first thought that the man was strong mentally, but he had been wrong. Kakashi had a lot of problems, but he hid them too well.

The man had gone through some hardships during his life. Most of it all was emotional pain. He lost his mother when he was little and his father committed seppuku. His father's death put a lot of strain on him and changed much about his views and attitude. He had read it all on some of his father's journals.

His parents were not the only thing Kakashi lost. He had also lost his friend Uchiha Obito, the person who gave him his Sharingan during the Third Shinobi World War. Obito had made Kakashi promise that he would protect Rin, their teammate. Kakashi failed to do that.

Then came his beloved sensei.

Still, that did not excuse him. Everybody had their problems, and some during their lifetimes, they learn to solve them. Kakashi has been living for how long? Yet, he is still unable to move on with his life. He constantly reminds himself of how much of a failure he is than trying to move on with his life.

It was good that he handled it though.

Naruto downed a cup of tap water before walking away from the kitchen. He needed to take a shower. Training with Guy and Lee brought much sweat to his body. Without a bath, he would surely stink. It was odd that Guy and Lee never seemed to stink that much despite their ridiculous training methods.

''You know, I was beginning to think you were enjoying seeing him suffer,'' a voice of Jiraiya spoke coming from behind Naruto.

''You thought I was a sadist?'' Naruto questioned without even looking back at the Sannin; he had already sensed him.

''No...I was just wondering why you simply watched him suffer from afar.''

''What would you have me do, Jiraiya? Try to comfort him? Tell him he was not a failure?''

''You could have done something sooner. You have that power in you to get people to listen to you,'' Jiraiya replied calmly. ''I also messed up big time, but you did not give me a hard time about it.''

''I have not forgotten about that, godfather,'' Naruto reminded Jiraiya that he had yet to forget about his own mistakes. He stopped walking and leaned against a wall into the passage. Now he was facing Jiraiya. ''Would you have been satisfied if I had tied you up and beat you up to an inch of your live? Would you have been happy if I had removed the ''thing'' you hold so dearly just to show you how angry I was and still am with you?''

Jiraiya cursed his big mouth. He should have not brought the subject up again. They had already spoken about this, and he had to bring it up. ''No,'' he admitted quietly. ''But I would have understood because I deserved it.''

''Indeed you did and still do...'' Naruto said. ''Perhaps I should do just that; give you what you deserve.''

Jiraiya was quick to reply, ''no, no, there is no need for that. We have already discussed things like adults, there is no need for violence.''

''There is no need to worry about that,'' Jiraiya did not believe that for a second. ''While I was watching Kakashi, I was studying him trying to find a way to handle him. I was also interested to see if he would give up if I kept pushing him away. My problems with Kakashi are solved and to correct you, I never even gave the guy a hard time. We talked and I gave him an advice.

''Unlike you, Kakashi was just a student of my father. You on the other hand, were my father's sensei and my godfather. Do you think a mere sorry and acknowledgement of your wrongs will make up for what you did?''

Jiraiya said nothing. What could he say?

''You said I did not make things hard for you. That is not it. The thing is, I just have yet to make things hard for you. I told you that I was angry with you but did not hate you. Do you think all the anger I felt when I found out that you abandoned me to the vultures of this village just disappeared? Do you think that I will easily forget that you let me think that my parents had abandoned me while you knew that was not it?

Anger like that does not simply disappear after a one-night sleep Jiraiya. Perhaps in the movies it might, but this is reality. I told you I would punish you and I still intend on doing that,'' Naruto stated making Jiraiya pale at the thought of being punished. ''Now state what you wish and excuse yourself, I want to take a shower.''

Jiraiya nodded quietly, ''I wanted say that what you did for Kakashi was good, even though you took your time,'' he said. ''Hime has told me that you wanted to go on a mission.''

''That is true,'' Naruto confirmed.

''If you like, we could go together when I visit my contacts in Kiri and Kumo,'' the Sannin offered. This would give him an opportunity to get closer to Naruto.

Naruto caught on to that. However, there were far more serious matters than that. This could give him a chance to see other villages before making his move.

''When do we leave?''

Jiraiya grinned the second Naruto asked. ''I will just have to check things with hime. I will talk to you tonight.''

''Okay,'' Naruto said turning to face the passage. ''You know you way out,'' he said disappearing from Jiraiya's view.

Jiraiya sighed walked out of the house. He went to the garden first. It was quite lovely when Minato was still alive. He had some good memories in the house. He would have had a lot of them too with Naruto had he not messed up things.

Not all was lost though. There was still time to make up for his wrongs. He doubted he could ever do enough, but the little he could do, he would do.

**Later that day**

Naruto was walking alone towards his house from the Ramen bar. It was so much better to take a walk sometimes than to simply teleport. He was thankful that Tsunade had decided against telling everyone about his heritage, not that he was hiding it anyway. With things the way they were, he could walk happily and peacefully around the village.

A few number of villagers still ignored him, while some just went about their lives. He had no complains though. He could not wish for any of it to be any different.

He sighed looking at his right at the corner of his eyes. 'Hinata,' he thought catching the weird Hyuuga girl tailing him. She never seemed to be able to hide whenever she was spying on him.

It had been going for a few days now. He thought eventually, she would decided to leave the shadows and step out into the light. But he thought wrong. It did not seem like she would be doing that anytime soon.

He had thought that it was annoying at first, given that she was always tailing him whenever she got the chance. Sometimes she would be at it for hours. It was annoying having a pair of white eyes staring at him. He could never do anything private because her eyes were always staring at him. Anyone would find it disturbing knowing that you always had a pair of eyes staring and watching carefully whatever you did.

Now it was becoming creepy.

He did not think that any girl in love did what Hinata was doing. If all girls did it, then he would surely die as he was. Perhaps Hinata was obsessed with him. An obsession sounded accurate. You had to be obsessed to spend your time spying on someone without an instruction for hours. She did it simply because she wanted to.

He wondered though; did she not have her own life to live?

He had talked with Neji about it, but the Hyuuga prodigy did not seem bothered about it or even care for it. He did admit it that he would find it disturbing if she was spending much of her time spying on him. Nevertheless, he was not willing to help him out. He simply told him to deal it himself. He could but he often did not censor his words to accommodate someone as fragile as Hinata. He would not want to be responsible for her mental breakdown.

Glancing at her direction once more, he was about to call her when he sensed something, someone rather. A dark figured appeared before him.

Uchiha Sasuke

The only reaction Naruto gave, physically, to the presence was a raised brow. He simply looked at the matured form of Sasuke's Sharingan. They were devoid of any emotion, and looked to be studying and analyzing him like he was some kind of puzzle.

Narrowing his eyes at a building on his left, Naruto saw Kakashi. The jounin seemed ready to jump in should fireworks threaten to be ignited.

''Naruto...'' there was neither anger nor hatred in his voice. There was nothing. His voice was devoid of any emotion just as his eyes were.

''Yes...'' Naruto said calmly. He looked at the Uchiha calmly. He had told himself that Sasuke was "dead" to him, countless times. And he believed it. However, he was staring at those same eyes that stared at him when they tried to kill him. This person betrayed him. He could not think otherwise. Was it just easy to say that he did not exist when he was not in presence?

He realized something though; he hated Uchiha Sasuke. There was no difference in Sasuke that tried to kill him and the Sasuke that was standing in front of him.

''I just wanted to confirm something,'' Sasuke said before disappearing.

Naruto sighed. Yes, Sasuke was Sasuke and he did not like him, at all. He waited for Kakashi to appear.

''I don't know why I was even worried,'' Kakashi said. Naruto looked at him. He looked a lot better than he was at afternoon. ''Both of you have changed so much. I know that. I have gone on a few missions with Sasuke, I should have known better.''

Naruto did not comment.

''Let's go to the jounin lounge, you have never been there. Last time I asked you said you had other plans.''

''Sure,'' Naruto said. He had nothing serious to do anyway. He could as well see what the jounin usually conversed.

**This is officially the shortest chapter so far. I will not just throw everything when Naruto begins his path in searching for peace. Things will start of slowly. I hope ya all can handle that. **

**What Naruto actually talked with Neji will be kept between them for now.**

**Derek: Perhaps somewhere in the future, as for how strong he is…I will keep that to myself for now.**

**Thor94: The relationship between Kyuubi and Naruto will be revealed soon.**

**Devin: No…**

**Steellord: It's possible.**

**If I did not answer your question, that probably means I don't have an answer to it. **


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

**Chapter 8**

Shimura Danzou narrowed his eyes at the presence before him, Orochimaru of the snake Sannin. The snake was watching him as it made its way towards him, possibly plotting something devious. He could never figure what went on in the head of the snake. He might be in a comfortable position, but the snake is dangerous - he knew that.

''Why the long face, Danzou?'' Orochimaru asked with a wide grin.

''You still have not brought me my perfect weapon,'' Danzou stated. He had contacted Orochimaru so that the snake Sannin could make him a weapon since he had failed to get his hands on the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. He needed a weapon, a strong one. Sasuke was uncontrollable. He could not depend on him to achieve certain things.

''Yes, yes,'' Orochimaru said keeping his grin.

''I am beginning to think you are incapable of making me the perfect weapon,'' Danzou stated keeping his calm nature.

''Kukukukuku,'' Orochimaru laughed finding it amusing. ''You forget that I always deliver Danzou. I created your right hand.''

''Yes, you were able to achieve that. But this task seems to be beyond you. It has been two years now since I contacted you.''

''You must understand that creating this perfect weapon is a delicate matter that cannot be rushed. I also have to make sure every possibilities and impossibilities are calculated perfectly,'' Orochimaru stated standing in front of Danzou. ''The matter is much more complex and requires me to do things that your simpleton mind cannot understand.''

Insults - that is what Orochimaru reverted to when someone said something about his capabilities, more especially about his genius.

''How many times have I told you to watch what you say, Orochimaru?''

''Kukukukuku,'' again Orochimaru chuckled. It always amused him when Danzou said things like that. ''There is nothing you can do even if I continue to show you disrespect," The snake Sannin stated a fact.

''I will assure you that there is something that I can do to you.''

''Kukukukuku,'' this time Orochimaru laughed really hard in a very sick way. ''You forget Danzou I know everything about you. I know things that can get you executed by Konoha since you have committed treason many times.''

''Enough of this!'' Danzou said firmly not wanting to continue with the conversation any longer. ''When will I get my weapon?''

''Very soon, very soon, Danzou,'' the snake Sannin said with a grin. ''I have collected all the materials I need for the project. Since the last months, I have been collecting necessary data by conducting a series of tests. And so far the data I have collected is satisfactory.''

''You have not given me an exact date of when I will get it Orochimaru,'' Danzou stated tapping his fingers on his throne impatiently.

Orochimaru felt sort of disappointed that Danzou had not asked anything about the developments of the project. He sighed, brutes could never understand the delicate scientific principles he had not follow with the project. It was not like magic where he would say the magic words and the weapon would be formed. Everything had to be calculated, measured and weighed at the right value. All formulas had to be rethought and composed again to see if there were mistakes.

Mistakes in a project like this one were not something he wanted. It would prove to be dangerous for anyone should a mistake and miscalculation be made. Everything had to be in the exact order and angled correctly.

''Soon'' he finally said.

''When is soon? You have been saying soon for months now,'' Danzou was really becoming impatient. He needed his weapon ready for use at any moment now. He needed it a year ago, but with the weapon not yet ready, he had postpone his plans. He could not wait any longer than he already had.

''Soon, just be patient and I will give you your toy,'' Orochimaru stated annoyingly. He hated being hurried to do his work. He liked taking his time when experimenting on things. It was fun that way.

Now he was calling it a toy?

''Orochimaru, I will give you a month to finish creating the weapon. If you have not yet completed the project then I will concede that even the once in a generation genius is incapable of making some things.''

'How clever Danzou,' Orochimaru thought with a smirk. Danzou was just saying it so to entice him to work even more hard to prove his genius. Well, he was not going to fall for it. He had dealt with Danzou long enough to know how the old war hawk worked.

''Fine,'' Orochimaru said. ''But when it does not end well, don't come running back to me because you are rushing me.''

''Just get it done.''

''And our deal?'' Orochimaru asked. He was thrilled with that he was going to get out of this little deal with Danzou. The price was worth all his efforts.

''I will keep my end of the deal if you keep your end,'' Danzou stated calmly. He had what Orochimaru wanted. He knew the snake would do anything to get the project done.

''Make sure that the weapon knows where it's loyalties lie,'' Danzou said with narrowed eyes. He had been saying this each time Orochimaru came to see him. He wanted the snake to remember that the weapon he was creating was for him and him only.

''Actually that is the reason I came here,'' Orochimaru stated.

''What do you need?''

''Your blood,'' Orochimaru said licking his lips. ''Lots of it and your chakra.''

''Why?''

''Is it not obvious?'' Orochimaru questioned with a smirk.

Danzou nodded, ''fine, you will have what you need.''

Orochimaru threw Danzou an empty bottle for blood and a chakra storage seal. Danzou cut himself and allowed his blood to flow into the bottle after that he channeled his chakra into the storage seals. He handed everything back to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru turned around to leave. He took a few steps before stopping, ''Danzou, next time you send one of your pests to follow me I will not simply mislead them, I will kill them.'' then he was gone.

Danzou was going to order one of his Root to tail the snake to find out where he was conducting the experiment. The snake knew how to hide. He had never been able to get old off then snake when it did not want to be found by him.

Naruto's House

Naruto sighed as he sealed a few things he would need for his journey with Jiraiya. He regretted going with Kakashi to the Jounin lounge yesterday. He did not think that adults would behave so childishly and then came Anko.

He shook his head, the woman was crazy as they came. He had to restrict her with a seal to avoid her jumping on him. She wanted pay back for ''running'' away from her and then when she had gotten drunk, she was drooling all over him, literally. The sight was unpleasant. Never was he going back to the lounge again.

The jounin drank sake too much, especially when they were happy or celebrating something. Still, their celebrations were wild. It was mostly the men who were ''out of control'', the women except for Anko were acting their age.

At least some of them offered him some pleasant conversations, unlike most of the man.

He had looked at Asuma with a blank expression when the jounin had asked him if he was still a virgin. Then everyone stared at him waiting for him to answer. He did not answer the question though.

''Just so you know, regardless of what you answer, I am willing to ride you tonight.'' Anko had said causing him to stare at her for a moment.

He had expected the jounin's to act a bit more mature. Well they were mature, it was just that when alcohol entered their system, they lost all maturity. Alcohol was not a good thing if you could not take it. He was surprised though, Kakashi was just his usual bored self so was Guy. The two only took a few sips of sake and then it was it. They settled for having civil conversations without much fuss.

Well that was for a few minutes before Guy started to argue with Kakashi over their score in their battles. Guy believed that he had won more matches than his eternal rival, whereas Kakashi refuted the claim saying he won more matches. He even reminded Guy of their last match which the green beast did not remember.

Jiraiya had said he would come to fetch him when they were to leave. They would be leaving today. The Sannin said he would have to do a couple of things before they left. Their journey would take up some time away from the village. That meant that they would be away from the village for a few weeks.

He did not mind being away from Konoha though. He had been away from the village for three years, and he liked being away. It was refreshing being away. He never got many chances to leave the village during his genin days. So any chance to go outside the village was highly appreciated and welcomed. He would not miss the chance for the world.

It was not that he hated being inside Konoha. He liked being inside the village. Konoha was his home, and nothing could change that. It would always be his home. He had been born for this village. Perhaps his mother may have been an outsider, but he was still born here during a historic day.

The day the Kyuubi attacked.

Speaking of which, he had not spoken to the beast in quite sometime. The time was now stretching towards a year.

Mindscape

He walked into the cold sewer with his calm expression kept. He would certainly lose his mind if he had been the one locked up in a place like this. Surely Kyuubi got bored sometimes with being always locked up in a cage without anyone to talk to. He did not think that any human would survive with the kind of living conditions set after being locked into the cage.

It was no wonder that during the times he had come here, he had always found the Bijuu sleeping...or sometimes pretending to be. It would have been better if it could take one of those years' long slumbers. If it could, it would repel the boredom the beast had to face.

He pitied the great Bijuu for that, but never said it loud as it would only serve to infuriate it. He remembered the time he had thanked the Kyuubi for saving his life when he was still playing stupid. The Bijuu had reacted in a way he had not been expecting. And went on to remind him it only did it because if he died it would be the end of it too - temporarily as in a few more years, the Bijuu would reform.

He stopped walking after reaching the front of the cage that kept his prisoner. He did not say anything at first, he waited for the Kyuubi to acknowledge his presence. If it did not, he would turn around and leave. He had done that before. But he knew that the Beast always knew when he was there - it just refused to acknowledge his presence.

Slowly but surely, the huge blood-red eyes of the Kyuubi open, lazily as they did.

''Hello, Kyuubi,'' Naruto began in a casual tone as if he was speaking to his friend.

**''What do you want**?'' nothing more of what he had expected. It was always like this with the Bijuu - to the point first.

''I came to talk to you,'' Naruto stated. The fact that the Bijuu had acknowledged his presence meant that it felt like talking to him.

**''Get it out and leave**.''

''You and I are going to be stuck together for a long time''

**''Tell me something I don't know,**'' Kyuubi said sarcastically.

''I know you don't like me, being that I am the one containing you. But you and I know that I had no say in that. Nevertheless, you don't like me and I believe you don't like anyone for that matter,'' he paused and looked at the Bijuu intensively. ''As I said, you and I are going to be stuck together for a long time. We could work on our differences and get along quite nicely.''

**''You are repeating the same words you said two years ago**,'' the Kyuubi said with a snort. Sometimes it really did not understand its container. That was because he tried to be friendly - Kyuubi did not understand that.

Humans were all the same. They saw Bijuu's as weapons, tools to be used for their means. He could not understand why Naruto would be want to be friends, or try to just get along with it. It hated humans. And it was not going to get along with one. That is unless...

''That means I am consistent,'' Naruto said. ''You could give it a chance, I mean what do you have to lose? No matter what happens you are always going to remain sealed in me. That will only change if I die.''

Again, the Bijuu snorted and closed its eyes. But it did not say a word.

''Think about it,'' Naruto said and walked away from the cage. The Kyuubi never looked at him as he left - it kept its eyes shut.

**About an hour later**

Jiraiya showed up at Naruto's house looking a bit out of breath. Naruto figured the Sannin had been running away from something. When someone like Jiraiya was running away from something, you knew that it had to be women he was peeping on. He must have been caught peeping. It was a wonder to Naruto how the Sannin never seemed to be able to completely hide himself while peeping.

He was able to hide for a few minutes, but sooner he would be caught. Perhaps it was the perverted giggles that always gave away his position. He was stealthy enough to hide from a few civilians. When he was caught, it was punishment time. He never seemed to escape that one. Never would Naruto pity the man, even if women do beat him up to an inch of his life.

Perhaps people like Kakashi and other fans of Jiraiya's perverted books would be able to pity him. He was the source of their favorite books. Without him, there could be no books - that would surely be the end of some men. Kakashi would probably go into a mental breakdown and quit his shinobi career if Jiraiya was no longer there to provide him with new issues of Icha Icha Paradise.

''I thought you were doing something important,'' Naruto stated looking at the pervert. He had said he had something of importance to do before they left. He had not thought it would be peeping.

''I had something important to do,'' Jiraiya said in a slightly serious tone after catching his breath. He had been nearly caught. Had he been caught, he would have been at the hospital. Today he had peeped on some beautiful and feisty women. They were really mad when they found him. He was lucky enough to have out run them.

He did wonder why they had to be so mad about it. It was not like he had taken anything. And he had also seen what he wanted to see. Hitting him was not going to make him forget or stop doing what he loved doing. In fact, when they beat him up, it made him recall everything he had seen at an even clear detail that he would without being beaten. Tsunade had nearly killed him, and yet he still remembers how her naked body looked like.

''You need to set your priorities straight Jiraiya. Since when did peeping become something of importance?''

''Its not peeping! It is called 'research','' why do people always get it wrong? Why could they not just understand that he was collecting 'research' data instead of peeping. ''Konoha has the best hot springs. I had to get some inspiration before we left the village,'' he said getting his tone down.

''I do not appreciate being kept waiting, especially when you were wasting time doing immoral things.''

Jiraiya ignored Naruto's words, ''have you packed everything?''

''I just said I had been waiting for you, did not I?'' why would he wait for the Sannin if he had not packed up everything? That would be stupid.

Jiraiya sighed, ''you could have just said yes or no,'' he stated slightly annoyed by Naruto's way of responding. Saying yes or no was a lot easier than saying all things he did not want to hear.

''If I wanted to,'' Naruto said placing a scroll right beside his sword's sheath. He hooked the scroll with the sheath before placing it on its rightful place - his back. ''...now shall we?''

''We have to see hime first,'' Jiraiya stated causing Naruto to sigh. He followed Jiraiya to Tsunade's office.

**Hokage Office**

Tsunade stared at Naruto unblinking. He had just returned and now he was leaving her again. She was beginning to think that he longer liked being inside the village. She had not thought that he would take Jiraiya's offer without even thinking about it more than he did.

Jiraiya had told her that he had accepted without thinking about it for more than 2 seconds. It took him that little time to make a choice that would see him depart from the village. Why could not he understand that she needed him by her side? It took him little time to make a choice to get away from her. That left a bad taste in her.

Looking at his eyes, she could not get anything out of them. They were their usual blank. Even sometimes when he smiled, his eyes betrayed that smile because they would never reflect happiness - they reflected nothing. She wanted to see him smile a bit more and laugh as he used to. But now she was realizing that it was just wishful thinking. At least he did smile at her every now and then.

She had realized that he had become increasingly bored being cooped inside the village without anything to do. Perhaps this journey with Jiraiya would offer him a chance to get rid of the boredom so that when he does return, he would be at least without the bored look he had been carrying over the past few days.

Tsunade blinked and released a sigh, ''I just wanted to see you before you left,'' she said to the other blond.

Naruto raised a brow. He had been here yesterday with Jiraiya after the pervert had informed her that he would be leaving with him. She already knew he was going, not just from Jiraiya's mouth but from his mouth as well. He thought that they had handled everything.

''You really need to take parenting lessons, Hokage-sama,'' Naruto stated earning a nod from Jiraiya. The Sannin agreed with Naruto.

''What?''

''You are showing too much love and you are way overprotective - it is over the bar. I can see just by looking at your eyes you would rather I did not leave with Jiraiya,'' Naruto stated calmly. ''You have to understand that I am not a child who needs to be under your constant watch. I have told you that I can handle myself. I will be involved in dangerous things, some life threatening. You have to allow me to fight my own battles. You have fought yours, and survived. I will fight mine, and will survive, but that cannot happen when you are always standing in front of me trying to shield me from any danger.''

Again, Jiraiya nodded. ''I have to agree with him hime. Naruto is no longer as he was three-years ago. You have to allow him to grow and let him be a man. He cannot go anyway if you won't allow him to grow. He is no longer a child. He has grown wings. You have to let him fly, otherwise he will remain rooted to the ground.''

Tsunade sighed. She was just being concerned like any other person would. Could they not understand that?

''...and besides he has me to look after him,'' Jiraiya added with a grin.

''Yes, and It went well last time I trusted you with his care,'' Tsunade said sarcastically.

''You are not going to let that go, are you?''

''No,'' Tsunade gave a short and firm reply. He had trusted her with Naruto's care and he failed to do so after going on to his peep show.

Naruto sighed silently. Sure he had some unresolved matters with his godfather, but Tsunade had to let that go. There was nothing Jiraiya could have done against his escape. Jiraiya was certainly not going to forgive himself if Tsunade kept reminding him of it. It would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he simply watched without care while the Sannin suffered. He was not that cold and heartless. People did make mistakes. He understood that, that is why he even speaks to Jiraiya. But that did not mean that there were no consequences for the mistakes. They were there, and had to be fully paid for.

''As many mistakes Jiraiya has made,'' Naruto said causing the Sannin to wince remembering all the mistakes he made. ''I do not find my escape to be one of them or something he should be blamed for. I could have run away from him regardless of what he did. Either my chakra was sealed or I was trapped in a barrier, one way or the other I would have found a way to get away from him.''

Tsunade looked at Naruto for a moment before nodding silently. He was still not apologizing for running away. What he had said just showed her just how intent he was on getting away from her former teammate. It was clear that even if she had been there to forbid him from doing anything stupid, he would have still ran away.

''Perhaps I have been a little overprotective, but that is just because I am always worried about you. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to you,'' Tsunade said quietly.

''Don't you think it's becoming more of paranoia?'' Naruto questioned the blond Godaime Hokage. ''Each time I leave; something bad is going to happen. Do you think that is healthy?''

''Just be grateful that someone is worried about you!'' Tsunade exclaimed staring straight at Naruto. ''Well anyway, have a safe journey and don't ever return like Jiraiya.''

''What makes you think I will ever be like him? He is not the ideal role model and anyone who would want to follow on his footsteps would surely be lost.''

''You know that I am right here and can hear you perfectly well, right?'' Jiraiya said not sounding the least wounded by Naruto's words.

Naruto merely shrugged, while Tsunade ignored him. ''Point taken,'' the blonde Hokage said with a small smile.

''That was cold hime,'' Jiraiya said after Tsunade had ignored him like he had not said a thing. Sighing, Jiraiya continued, ''let's go Naruto,'' he said turning his eyes towards Naruto.

Naruto nodded, and smiled once for Tsunade before disappearing into thin air. ''I really hate it when he does that,'' Tsunade mumbled after Naruto had disappeared into nothingness with his unique Shunshine.

''You are not the only one,'' Jiraiya said before he too disappeared. His disappearance was accompanied by a cloud of smoke, though.

Just outside of Konoha

''Thanks for saving me back there,'' Jiraiya said to Naruto as they walked in a comfortable pace. He was referring to when Naruto told Tsunade that she should not blame him for his running away.

''I was merely doing what was right,'' Naruto stated not even sparing Jiraiya a look.

Jiraiya sensed there was a hidden meaning to the words, but did not press to find out what it was. It was better that way. Some things were better left uncovered. Sometimes it was better to let things be and stop reasoning because there were times we would uncover things we rather not have uncovered.

''Where are we going to visit first?''

''We will first go to Kumo, then Kiri,'' Jiraiya replied.

Naruto nodded. Before they even reach Kumo, he would have to disappear so that he could speak to Itachi. He needed to inform the Uchiha of when he would try to visit Konan in Amegakure. Jiraiya was not going to be always at his side. The pervert would occasionally leave him on his own while he did other things. Given that opportunity, he would teleport to the hideout. Luckily, Itachi would be there, he had informed him that he would teleport to the place.

He walked silently beside the toad Sennin. This journey would surely give him a chance to see the world more. He would not mind to eliminate some bandits camps while on the way. There were many of them scattered across the Elemental Nations. More of the bandits camps, meant more women were suffering. Perhaps some action would get his name on the map. Certainly having his name known in most lands would make it easy for him to reach foreign lands.

With more reach over other lands, he could find the space to operate, have some sort of influence over the world.

**Naruto & Jiraiya**

They had been travelling for four days now. Well not exactly that - they had only travelled for two days and when they reached a town, Jiraiya decided it was best they rested for some time. He had said that they were not going to stop at another town after this one. They would simply head straight to the Lightning country without any stops - they would only stop for rest.

Naruto was not complaining though. He did not mind their pace - he was in no hurry to return to Konoha. Returning to the village, he would only be welcomed by boredom. At least out here he could take a walk and see people he did not see every day of his life. It was refreshing seeing new things than things that were already imprinted within his mind.

The image of Konoha and its street was plastered across his mind. He could fairly walk around the village with his eyes closed and never fear about hitting something. He had run around the village countless times during his younger days when he was playing pranks on the villagers. He knew all the hiding spots. He had had blue print of the village in his head.

At least he got something from his stupid days.

Jiraiya was going to be leaving any minute now. He could see by the look on the man's face. He was increasingly becoming bored and had a look on his face that went towards a brothel.

That's how Jiraiya got laid. He had to pay for sex. It was pitiful, yet amusing for him. He had no doubt that if he was the type or felt like getting laid, he would never need to pay. He would simply talk his way into it without visiting a brothel or paying any women for the sex. For Jiraiya, despite his fame, women did not throw themselves at him. They never showed any interest in him. Perhaps a few did, but there were only a few of them.

''What kind of Intel are you going to get from your contacts?'' Naruto asked. Jiraiya was now spotting a dreamy look, but it disappeared as soon as he asked the question.

''You will know when you meet with them,'' Jiraiya replied with a shrug of his shoulders. ''How about we go and have some fun? You are getting at that age...and I think it would be normal if you showed some interest in women.''

''Why?''

''You are missing something great,'' Jiraiya responded. Naruto was missing the pleasures a women could give a men. He knew all about it, but it would also be great if his godson knew about it too. It would also give him research material and something to write about.

''I think not,'' Naruto responded with a wave of his hands.

''Come on, just come with me, for today only. If you don't agree with me, I will never make a request like this again,'' Jiraiya said standing up. 'I will also think that there is something wrong with you if you don't find it enjoyable,' he thought.

''I'd rather not,'' Naruto said turning the Sannin down. ''I will take a walk outside the town, you can do what you wish. But tomorrow we leave.''

''Fine,'' the toad sage said. ''But you are missing...'' he let the words hang.

Naruto did not comment any further. He walked out of the room. He always carried his sword when he walked. Perhaps if it was Konoha, he would leave it behind. But this was a foreign town to him. He was just passing by. He could not trust it with his blade.

**Outside the town**

Naruto stopped walking suddenly and turned around as he sensed something. He saw nothing when he turned around. But there was no mistake he had definitely sensed something. He kept his guard up and looked back to where he had been headed. He could not show signs of distress at this time. He just had to stay calm and perhaps whoever that he had sensed would reveal himself.

He was not paranoid enough to be making things inside his head. He held no illusions that someone was always trying to get him. His senses were always right, unless they were tricked which had not happened so far.

He suddenly came into a halt when again he sensed something behind him. This time his senses were on high alert. He turned around slowly and narrowed his eye. In front of him was a man with short spiky black hair and a fair skin. He was just about an inch taller than him. He wore a black coat that stretched out wide at its end. Under the coat he wore a long sleeve blood-red T-shirt, and also wore black cargo pants; this was accompanied by black shinobi boots and blood-red fingerless gloves. The feature that stood out the most was in his eye sockets, there was just a black void.

Naruto was not sensing anything good from the man. ''Can I help you?'' he asked stoically.

He got no response from the man. He simply moved towards him in a burst of speed that surprised him. The take of the man caused small chunks of earth to peel off. Naruto got into defense seeing an attacking coming. He brought out both his hands and crossed them in front of him to make a defense. He blocked a powerful punch that was directed to his face.

The force behind the punch caused him to be rooted to the ground - his feet burrowed on the ground. He winced at the contact. There was some power behind the punch. It made attempting to block another punch next time not so much of a good idea.

Naruto leapt backwards to create some distance between himself and the stranger, ''who are you?'' he asked calmly. Still the stranger did not seem to be capable of producing words.

The stranger took off towards him again. Naruto took off at the same time. If the man wanted to fight, he would give him a fight. Besides, it was not like he had any other options. The man seemed to want nothing but to fight. For what purpose? He did not know. He did not have any enemies that could want him to die.

The man lunged a right hook towards him - it came fast and swift. Naruto brought out his hand to block the attack. This time he was a lot more prepared than last time. He man threw another punch towards his face. He used his other to block before pushing the man away from him. He was trying to make him lose balance, but that was unfruitful.

Naruto tried a high round house kick at his opponent - he put as much power as he could before the attack. The kick was gracefully caught by the stranger. Naruto made an attempt to forcibly retrieve his foot, but he hold was too tight for him.

Seeing that his other foot was caught, Naruto moved his other to attempt to kick the man. The motion caused him to fall on his back since both his legs used for balance were out of position to balance. His attempt for kick was caught again by the strangers strong grasp. Before he could hit the ground, the man swung him into the air. He spun several times before throwing him away.

The throw was powerful, but Naruto had been under the kind of situations before. He tried his best to regain his balance before flipping several times while still flying towards the tree. He landed on the ground but was still pushed back by the momentum.

He did not wait or have to look for his attacker as the man silently appeared before him. The man sent a spinning kick towards his temple. He quickly brought out his for a hasty but effective defense. The kick connected with his defense and sent him flying due to its power. He was sent sailing towards the trees.

Naruto allowed the momentum to carry him. He was going to hit the tree with his head first. But when he was about to crash into the tree, he swiftly flipped and hit the tree with his feet. He did not stop, he sort of like bounced off the tree and sped towards his opponent.

The speed he was travelling in was fast. But his opponent waited for him as he reached near. He raised his right foot and sent it crashing towards the man's head. The man brought out both his hands in defense. When the back on his foot connected with the defense, it held on. The power behind it, forced the man's feet to burrow into the ground.

Naruto flipped and returned with a kick to the man's chest. His opponent jumped back to avoid being hit. He landed on the ground and stood there for a second before disappearing off to attack the black-eyed stranger.

He charged a Rasengan on his right hand as soon as he reached his opponent. The man blurred out of sight and went behind him. His Rasengan hit the ground with a loud boom and created a crater on the ground.

He was forced to be on alert as the stranger was on him again. He sensed him coming, but did not react fast enough to do anything against the kick on his back that sent him flying. He crashed into a tree breaking it before recovering.

He hit the ground and stared at his opponent. The man was fast and really good. He might end up forgetting that the man just attacked him out of nowhere and start enjoying the battle. So far it was good, and he had been pretty much put on the defensive.

He was not going to try to talk to the man, by now he had already realized that he was not going to get any answers. He did not seem to be capable of speaking or he just preferred to be quite. He did not mind though. He liked things just the way they were.

Without another thought, Naruto dashed in great speeds towards his attacker. The man did the same and met in between. The grabbed both each other's and clashed in a battle of physical prowess. He was no push over in this department. But in this case, he was evenly matched with his opponent.

He began to push chakra behind his push. His opponent seemed to do the same. Their battle forced both of them to burrow into the ground. The release of chakra forced debris around them to pick up.

Naruto got a closer look at those black eyes. There was nothing in them. They were just a black void with eternal darkness. There was no life in them. He could not see anything from them. They merely stared at him.

Naruto head butted his opponent seeing that the struggle for power was not going to end soon. His move seemed to have surprised the man. It was as if, he was not expecting him to do it. The hands broke apart and Naruto used the momentarily loss of balance by his to his advantage.

He flashed through hand seals faster than the normal eyes could see. **''Fûton: Kaze no Panchi**,'' he muttered and released compressed wind in the shape on a punch. The wind punch hit his opponent head on in the gut and sent him flying.

The man was quick to recover from the attack. He landed gracefully on the ground. But Naruto was before him in a flash. He had moved faster than he had been. He jumped into the air and attempted to deliver a powerful midair kick. The kick did just end as an attempt, it hit the man straight and hard in his face. The powerful kick sent him away from Naruto. The blond landed on the ground and waited for his opponent to recover.

The movements of the stranger were calculated and not wasted. The attacks also had a lot of power behind them. He was curious as to who the man was. He had managed to surprise him with his speed. He wondered though how long he would keep it up without having to use some of his special moves.

The stranger recovered quickly and walked towards Naruto. He stood and stared at the blond as if inviting him to attack. Naruto did not think it over, he went straight towards the man.

He used his great speed again. He appeared in front of the man and jumped into the air. His jump was fast and caused cracks on the ground. He swung his right foot horizontally towards his opponent. The man reacted quickly by bending to avoid the blow. Naruto spun around with the momentum of the kick.

He was forced to go on the defensive when the man he was fighting against attempted to kick him while he was still spinning around. He channeled chakra into his feet before the man's kick hit him. When it did hit, he felt nothing. He blurred away from him.

The stranger was at him again. He lunged himself at him and attempted to punch him. Naruto ducked under the punch and attempted to punch him in the gut but his punch was caught. The man yanked his hand towards him and drove his fist towards his face.

Naruto tilted his head to avoid the punch. But his opponent did not stop there. He twisted his hand painfully and pulled backwards before letting go of his hand. Before Naruto could do anything, he was kicked painfully on his face. The kick sent him flying away. He was quick to recover, nonetheless.

He recovered in the form of going through hand seals, **''Fûton: Daitoppa**!'' he released powerful gusts of winds that sped towards the black eyes stranger. The gusts picked up debris as they rushed towards the target. He was not expecting the jutsu, hence he was sent flying by it. The jutsu sent him away. But he recovered quickly and landed on the ground with both his feet.

Naruto also did the same. He summoned a kunai and shuriken pouch before placing it on its rightful place. He took out four Kunai's and held them with both his hands - two in each. He disappeared into the trees.

The stranger stood calmly staring at the spot Naruto had been standing before he disappeared. He did not look too concerned about the sudden disappearance of Naruto. A kunai came flying towards him in great speed. He disappeared from his position. The Kunai burrowed into the ground as it had missed its target.

More Kunai's came flying towards him. He was able to skillfully dodge them all. Naruto had been throwing them from different directions. One or two at a time, though. Suddenly he changed tactics and sent a shower of them towards the man.

He disappeared from his spot and appeared on top of a tree branch. Naruto appeared before him with a Rasengan on his hand. He drove the **Rasengan** towards the man's gut, but he dodged it by jumping into the air. The Rasengan hit the tree and destroyed it.

Just then as the man was in midair, another Naruto came fast towards him not giving him a chance to react. He was holding his blade his left hand. He changed hands and held the blade with his right hand, before he swung in across the man's chest, **''Kaminari Katta,**'' the blade was crackling with lightning as he swung it.

The Naruto that had charged the** Rasengan** disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the one holding the Sword of the Flying Thunder God. The man had already disappeared after being cut. He jumped into the clearing away from the trees.

Looked at his blade as it was dripping something dark red. It was blood, but way dark. It almost looked like it was not even blood but some sort of liquid. He flicked it ridding of the blood.

He was again forced to be on the defensive when the stranger appeared before him. He was holding a black blade that seemed to be made of solid chakra. He could feel that it was definitely chakra. Naruto parried the slash that came across his face. He pushed back before swinging his own blade across the man's chest. The stranger blocked the slash with his own blade.

The blades become locked up in a battle of power as they tried to see which was the sharpest and strongest. Naruto stopped pushing and jumped back.

**''Kaminari Katta,**'' he muttered swinging his sword horizontally. The sword released a lighting blade that sped towards the opponent. The technique was the same as the one he had use earlier. The difference was that this time he had resealed the lightning from his sword. Last time he had not released it. It was almost unavoidable when the shot it towards an opponent. Its speed was great, that only the fastest would be able to dodge it. But when he used it while maintaining it on his blade it could be avoidable. But when used with the sword, it dealt more damage to the opponent.

The last time he had used it, his opponent had slightly dodged it. But he had hit him across his chest. There was a wound across the chest where the blade had it. It was just no deep though.

The lightning cutter was at his opponent in mere seconds. The man brought out both his hands and shielded himself against the attack. The attack hit him and seemed to go past him. It hit just below his shoulders. From where the jutsu had cut, his coat fell to the ground after being cut. His shirt also. There was a slash across his chest caused by the jutsu. The gash was also on his back. It took seconds for the second gash to start leaking blood.

Naruto was before the stranger before he could recover from his attack. He drove his blade towards the man chest. The target did enough to move away slightly to avoid being pierced on his chest. The blade ended up piercing his right shoulder.

With how deep the blade had entered his flesh, anyone would have first attempted to remove the it. But not his man. He seemed to have shrug off the wound and grabbed Naruto's right hand which held the blade. He was about to cut Naruto, with his own blade when the blond held a single hand seal, **''Fûton: Shinkuu Dangan**,'' he did so faster before he could be hit. He released a vacuum bullet from his mouth. The bullet hit the man on his chest, hard. It pushed him back slightly. It was obvious he had used his power to stand his ground.

This caused him to let his grip on his hand loose. Naruto did not waste time. He jumped into the air and spun around delivering a power kick to the man's temple. The kick sent him flying. But Naruto was not done. While the man was still on flight, he appeared above him and claspped his hands together, **''Fûton: Kaze no Hamma**!'' he did so sending a heavy blow to the man. The wind hammer hit him, hard, and sent him crashing towards the ground.

Naruto landed on to the ground and waited for the man to get up. He knew that his efforts were not enough. Soon enough, the man was up on his feet. His upper body's clothes were messed up and the deep wound on his shoulder was leaking blood. He was also spotting several bruises.

Naruto flashed through hand seals. He was not too concerned about the enemy. He still looked he wanted to fight. ''**Fûton: Kaze Shuriken**,'' multiple wind shurikens formed beside him. They spun around for a second before he sent them towards the opponent.

The opponent held both his hands together before he released some powerful gusts of wind that deflected the shurikens away from him.

'Daitoppa? So he can use ninjutsu too. Well I should have expected that,' Naruto thought looking at his opponent.

The black eyed man rushed towards him with some debris picking up behind. Naruto sensed a rise of chakra from him. The chakra was unlike anything he had ever sensed before. It was foul, and sinister, even more sinister than the Kyuubi's. He also felt the Kyuubi shift inside the cage.

While the man was dashing towards him, he went through hand seals before releasing fireballs. Naruto knew that it was no ordinary Katon Jutsu, that is it was Katon. The flames were too hot and intense for any fire style jutsu.

He took out his blade again and held it in front of him ''**Kaminari no Shouheki**,'' he said so channeling chakra into his blade. A lightning barrier erected in front of and stood like a wall. His blade was the source of it, as he conducted the lightning though it.

The flames hit his barrier and tried to break it. But Naruto put more chakra behind it to enforce it. He was not about to be burned. After the struggle, the barrier died down along with the flames.

Naruto widened his eyes slightly when his opponent greeted him with a punch under his chin. It did not end there; a knee to his gut followed causing to wince painfully. This was followed by a punch to his face. Naruto had to say the punch was chakra enhanced. He did not believe that anyone could punch that hard.

The punch sent him rocketing towards the trees away from the clearing. Naruto hit a couple of trees as the momentum carried before finally stopping. He hit the ground painfully and took some time to stand up, he did so panting. Nothing was broken except for his nose and a few bruises along with his slightly tattered clothes.

He was forced to abandon his position when a breath of scotching flames came towards him. He replaced himself with a log before disappearing back to the clearing.

The stranger flashed back to the clearing. **''Fûton: Shinkuuha**.''

Naruto took a deep breath and spun around while compressing into a solitary wind blade. The jutsu blasted off around him cutting everything on its path. Unfortunately, it was not his opponent. He only got a few tree with the large wind blade.

He looked around for his opponent, as he could not sense him. He quickly sensed him, when he felt a spike of chakra. He stranger was charging a small ball of black energy on his palm. Naruto could feel that there was a lot of chakra on the technique. The man held out his hand, palm facing Naruto.

'Shit,' Naruto cursed as a beam of black energy short towards him. It would definitely not end well for him if he got it by whatever the jutsu was. He quickly went through hand seals, **''Fûton:** **Kaze no Shouheki**!'' he yelled before clasping his hands together. An invincible barrier of wind quickly formed in front of him.

Naruto cursed again when the black energy hit his barrier. The technique was a lot stronger than he had thought. Keeping up the barrier was a difficult task because he had not molded enough chakra.

Boom!

There was an explosion right in front of Naruto. The explosion picked up large amounts of debris and created some gusts of winds. When the debris cleared, Naruto was seen with both his hands stretched out. Both hands had some burns towards his elbows. His front was also burned slightly. He was also breathing heavily.

Naruto looked at his hands. Had he not quickly coated most of his body with wind chakra, he would have been burned severely. 'What was that jutsu?' he thought. The jutsu had left its footsteps on the ground when it travelled towards him. There was also a large crater in front of him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the stranger appeared in front of him with his right hand stretched out towards him. 'Shit,' he cursed as he saw the same jutsu being charged at it him. He quickly disappeared in a yellow flash before the jutsu was blasted across the clearing.

He had marked a tree earlier during the fight. He disappeared back to the clearing to see the man waiting for him. Two clones came into existence before him. One created a Rasengan before charging towards the enemy.

Naruto held out his right hand and formed a Rasengan, but the Rasengan changed shape and became a four bladed shuriken. The screeching noise followed. Naruto looked to see how his clone was doing. He smiled it was busy. The other clone stretched out both its hands towards the jutsu Naruto held. It channeled fire chakra into the jutsu. Within seconds, Naruto held his complete jutsu. The jutsu was now in complete fire, literally.

He winced when he got memories from his destroyed clone. It was the same jutsu that burned his hands that destroyed his clone. His opponent turned his focus to him. The black eyes looked at his jutsu curiously.

It did not matter now, he had completed his jutsu. He took out a three-pronged Kunai with his left hand and threw it at the man. The man merely tilted his head to avoid it. But he did not expect Naruto to suddenly appear before him via a yellow flash.

**''Shakuton: Rasenshuriken**!'' he yelled hitting the stranger the powerful jutsu. As soon as it hit, he disappeared again in a yellow flash to avoid being caught in the blast.

Boom!

A large scotching explosion rocketed throughout the battlefield causing Naruto to shield his eyes. There was a large crater, large than any other as a result of the explosion. There was no sign of the attacker.

Naruto smiled. He had never tried the jutsu before. Itachi had burned him from using S-rank jutsu's while at the hideout. It was a success. It had done what he had created it for - turn the enemy into ash.

He sighed and sat down to recover his breath.

**Meanwhile**

''Kukukukukuku,'' Orochimaru chuckled darkly with a satisfied grin after watching the battle with Naruto and his test subject. He had been watching from afar. Who better to give him the data he required than the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki?

''Naruto-kun has become strong and is quite skilled,'' Kabuto commented impressed with the blonds' skills. He was indeed wrong when he said Naruto had no shinobi skills. But he could not forget that the Naruto back then and now were different.

''Indeed he has,'' Orochimaru said after getting his laughter under control. ''I am surprised that he can use Minato's jutsu. That last jutsu was powerful. I am interested in it,'' certainly. He would not mind using a jutsu of that power. He always was craving for new jutsu's. The jutsu Naruto had used to obliterate his test subject was interesting and wonderfully attracting.

''The test subject did better than I had expected, a pity Naruto-kun destroyed it. We could have taken its remains and study them further,'' Kabuto stated the disappointment clear in his voice. Any scientist would be sad at the loss of a such a subject.

''Don't worry about that, we still have the original. That was just a clone of the Original I made. I wanted to see how a clone would do before I could finish work on the original. It is an curious specimen isn't it?''

''Hai, Orochimaru-sama,'' Kabuto said with a nod. ''I am still amazed that you created something like this, Orochimaru-sama,'' Kabuto was indeed impressed. He knew his master was a genius. The man was a work of genius himself. But this was just special. He had never seen anything like it before. Even he could not create something indigenous as this. He would never come close to doing so.

He wished his master had allowed him to be involved though. He had only been useful in collecting data and the DNA Orochimaru wanted. He also knew what went around and what he was creating. But he was not involved with the creation process. Orochimaru had insisted on doing it alone. Perhaps since he was brought here today, they would finish the weapon together.

After seeing the blue prints of the project his master had invested his time on, he had become increasingly curious and a bit excited to see it. But Orochimaru was oddly keeping him out if it.

''And that fool Danzou thought I could not create it,'' Orochimaru said with a snort. ''The weapon's power is astonishing. If the copy could do this, what more will be the original be able to do? The prospect of finding out thrills me,'' the Snake Sannin said grinning in all corners. In all honesty, he was excited. This was his pet project. Like any scientist, he was happy when his research finally paid off. And now he had just witnessed the result of his research and hard work.

''He will certainly be happy when he does get his hands on it,'' Kabuto said. He doubted that his master would give the project to Danzou if it proved to exceed his expectations. He knew his master better.

''Yes, but I might just decide to keep it for myself.''

Yap he definitely knew his master better than anyone

''Let's go, Kabuto. We have work to finish,'' Orochimaru stated. He had seen what he wanted to see and had collected enough competitive data. He had witnessed his creation battle, even though it ended up being destroyed in a way he would not have wished for it to be, he was still happy. He would not have minded to take it back to his hideout and use it for further research.

''Hai, Orochimaru-sama,'' Kabuto said and followed his master like any faithful servant. He smiled though when he heard Orochimaru say ''we''. That had to mean they were going to finish the project together. He would be satisfied with it even despite not having taken any real part in the creation.

**Back with Naruto**

There was a question ringing inside his head, who was this man he had killed? He did not get any answers before the man died, he did not even say a word to him. That left him curious. Who could it had been and who sent him? No one would surely just randomly come to attack and be killed.

This was far from something to be called a coincident or something that just happens. He had a feeling that the man sent to battle, specifically him. But for what purpose? Was it an attempt on his life? No, it did not certainly look that way. It seemed that the man just wanted to battle, battle before he died. So then why did he just want to battle and with him?

So many questions that required to be answered. And he was not going to get any of the answers - since he had turned the stranger into ash. But knowing that the stranger was gone to not stop the questions raining inside his head. Anyone would be curious about the event that had just taken place. But he was not paranoid enough to think that an assassin or a mercenary was sent to kill him.

He had no such thoughts. But that just left more questions he could not answer nor even come close to figuring out.

Naruto looked at himself. His hands were still spotting burns. The technique that had hit him was really powerful. He had not seen anything like it before. It shot at him like a beam - deadly beam of energy. He knew it was no ordinary jutsu if he could hurt him like that. He was glad though, his secondary defense held on. Or perhaps he would have been severely injured. But the burns he had suffered were not anything serious. Kyuubi would begin healing them anytime soon.

He had not sustained any other alarming injury. He was a bit tired though. The man knew how to punch and kick. He had felt like he was being kicked by Guy all over again. The man was also fast, and seemed to have been calm the entire time they battled. He did not show any signs of distress or any emotion for that matter.

Jiraiya whistled as he looked at Naruto, ''I see that is what you have been hiding,'' he said walking towards the blond. He had witnessed some of the battle. ''You have some good defensive jutsu's, and can use three elements. I did notice that you use lightning through your blade, which leads me to believe that your lightning element is not quite strong without the blade - electric blade. Still, you use your sword very excellently,'' the Sannin stated. 'and after all that battle all he got were burns on both his hands. I do think there is more to it', he thought.

Naruto stood up and looked at Jiraiya blankly. The Sannin continued, ''I was right after all to recommend you to Hime for the promotion of jounin.''

''Really Jiraiya? That is what is most important here? I just was attacked by an unknown man,'' Naruto stated calmly.

''Take the complement brat. Some people would kill to be complemented by one of the Sannin,'' Jiraiya stated irritate. ''And besides there is nothing to work on since you destroyed everything.''

''I doubt he was going to talk anyway. He did not say a word the entire we fought,'' Naruto said nonchalantly.

''What was that technique you used?'' Jiraiya asked genuinely curious about the technique. Anyone would be interested in a jutsu that can turn anyone to ash.

''Rasengan, as the base mixed with wind and fire chakra,'' Naruto said.

''Oh, you completed the **Rasengan**? Minato was never able to do that. How long did it take you to do it?''

''Not too long,'' Naruto gave a vague answer. ''He was not wearing a forehead protector to define which village he came from.'' Now Naruto was going back to more serious matters.

''I did not recognize him from anywhere. Not even that Jutsu he used,'' the Sannin stated with a thoughtful expression. For all his years of living, he had seen a variety of jutsu's, but the jutsu he had seen was unlike any other. He was also curious as to who the stranger was. A pity Naruto had destroyed his body, he could have sent it to Konoha to be examined.

''Did you sense it?''

Jiraiya nodded, his expression becoming slightly serious. He had sensed how sinister the chakra of the man felt. The feeling did not make him feel comfortable at all. He was used to feeling such foul chakra from jinchuriki or Bijuu's, but not a normal shinobi.

''His chakra was black. Have you ever seen anyone with black chakra?'' Jiraiya shook his head. Even Orochimaru who was evil in all sense of the word did not have evil chakra. ''It felt like a Bijuu's chakra,'' Naruto said bringing both his hands in front, ''It is also a lot more potent and harmful. My burns have yet to disappear. Normally such things would have already disappeared. But the process of healing is taking longer than it should.''

Jiraiya looked at Naruto's hands. Indeed, his burns were still visible. Naruto healed faster because of Kyuubi and his Uzumaki genes. Burns like that would have healed a long time ago. But because what caused them was not normal, the burns were taking their time to disappear. ''I will send a word to Hime,'' he said finally.

''I doubt she will know something. And it is not like that man will just appear again.''

**I am happy that the story is now starting to take shape. So far, it has been good. **

**Thanks to all the reviews, I enjoy going through them. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Naruto sighed sadly as he looked around his surrounding; he had just been given a task to dispose a bandit camp and retrieve a stolen item. The item was nothing special in his eyes, it was just a sword. But Jiraiya had said it was more than just a normal sword. There was something special about it. Perhaps it held some sort of sentimental value. The Sannin did not feel like explaining anything more to him and did not say anything. He did not bother to pester about it. He was just left to deal with the bandits and retrieve the item. Failure was not an option, Jiraiya had made that clear. But he had not been hoping to fail. Perhaps he had failed in his past days, but he did not look to see more failures. He understood that he could not always be perfect at everything, but when he could do something to be successful in all he does, he would surely use his effort to succeed.

There bandits had not posed him a problem at all. All he needed was some stealth skills and fast movements; he had all that and then some. He was by faster than the bandits; he was superior to them in all ways. He did not have to struggle with dealing with them. He had taken care of them in a flash. Bandits were not strong. They could be called weak. Even genins could handle without suffering loss. They were just untrained thugs who fed on those weaker than them. It was a bit of a relief that they were not that powerful, had they been, women everywhere would definitely suffer. Because shinobi are superior to them, bandits always stay away from their way. They know that should a confrontation be ignited, they would be killed. Some shinobi were merciless killers to these kind of people.

Bandits were vile, truly despicable beings. They raped women till the was no life in them. And when the life had left them, they would kill them as they were no longer of use to them. He could never understand what sort of human would laugh while the other begs for mercy. He could not stand something like that. But even so when he could not stand something like that, he could not go around killing every bandit that existed. One may say that he was ridding the world of all that was evil. But he still believed that there was redemption. Nevertheless, he would not allow women to suffer because of this believe. If killing one bandit were to save countless women from suffering the horrors of being used as sex slaves, he would dirty his hands.

The past men who had sought for peace did things differently. They were never dirtied their hands. They despised fighting and always looked to solve things without fights. But it had proved that shinobi were not looking to listen to anyone, regardless of how powerful they were. He did believe that people could understand each. But at the same time, he would kill should it be necessary. It was hard to take, but that only proved that he was still human; Itachi had taught him that and he would never forget it. Even if he killed, even if someone screamed at him murderer, he would never take it to heart and sink into depression. Itachi had killed his entire clan, he had cried when it happened, but now he no longer did. He did not feel sad or anything when he was called a murderer.

If ridding the world of all that was evil could get him called a murderer, he would happily accept it as long as he knew there was some good that he was doing.

He was looking for peace, nothing else. He knew that anyone could become evil, anyone could be swayed into doing all that was dark. If he were to just kill everyone who was evil, he would end up killing the whole world. That was why he had chosen not to just become a merciless killer. He would still choose to believe that people could change. But even so, he knew that some people were beyond redemption. He did not want to become a God of the world and judge the world of its sins. He was just going to have to be wise in making his decisions. He would also make things differently and act differently. His predecessors had failed, all following the same path and doing things similar, but he would do things differently and ensure that he would not fail.

He would not rest until the world took the way of peace. This desire was so great that he thought that even if he were to get killed before peace was within his grasp, he would come back to life and fight for peace.

But someone like him who would have his hands filled with blood would not be worthy to lead a peaceful world. He could take it to peace. But that which was impure could not lead something that was pure. Someone with pure hands would have to do that. But at the moment, he was not worried about that. He had yet to take any steps for peace. He wanted to see the world a bit more to make his move. He had to know each of the Kages; their personalities, and ideals. He had to have that info before making a choice. This little trip with Jiraiya would give him that opportunity. He had already established himself in some small villages; that was good. If he were to call for support, he knew that he would have the support he needed.

Looking back at the bandit camp; Jiraiya had told him to kill everyone at the camp, because if he did not, they would continue to do evil. They would move on to the next town and abduct women for their amusement. Killing; that was a part of his job as a shinobi. But he refused to kill just anyone. The Sannin had said that people of this nature were beyond redemption and that there was nothing good about them. All they knew to do was to abduct and rape. If left alive, they would continue to rape and abduct. He would certainly blame himself if he saw the men he had left alive raping other women. It would be in his consciousness for all eternity. But he would do his best to ensure that something like that did not happen. He did not want to make such blunders that would cause other people to suffer.

''You finished that rather quickly,'' Jiraiya commented as he walked towards Naruto. The blond was standing in the middle of the camp with the item he was supposed to retrieve in hand. ''I thought you would not given your reluctance to kill everyone.''

Naruto turned around and looked at Jiraiya blankly. He threw the blade he had at the Sannin, ''We should be at Kumogakure by today, correct?''

It was still around noon, they could reach there tonight. But he wanted to relax before getting to Kumogakure,''Yes,'' he said and looked at Naruto carefully. He had expected the blond to say something about the mission he had just completed. He had been reluctant to do it, so he thought he would have something to say after it. It was not best to keep shouldering things on his own.

Naruto nodded and begun to walk past Jiraiya. ''Let us go. You still have to return that sword,'' the blond stated as if he was the one in charge of their little adventure.

''I will return it at some later date,'' the Sannin replied, still staring at Naruto. ''If you want to talk about it, you can with me. I have experience with these things,'' he said in a quiet and inviting tone.

Naruto did not even turn to look at Jiraiya as he responded. ''Godfather,'' Jiraiya cringed at the word. ''If I wanted some advice from you I would have asked you for it. But I don't need it, hence I did not ask. I am fine, if you think that I am that weak minded that I need to cry on your shoulder each time I do this kind of mission, then you certainly do not know me,'' he paused for a moment. ''Now let us go, I do not want to sleep another night under a tree.''

Jiraiya sighed, ''Fine, you don't to be so harsh about it,'' he said following the blond from behind. Still, it would please him if Naruto opened up to him. The blond was a closed book to him. No matter what key he tried to use, he just could not unlock it to see what was written inside it. He was very curious to know what was written in the book. Well, he still has time, he would find out what little by little.

''What were you able to find about that thing that I fought a while ago?'' Naruto questioned walking calmly with Jiraiya by his side as the Sannin had caught up to him. They were not travelling by the trees; they were already in the lightning country, so it was no use to run.

''It is no longer a human?'' Jiraiya questioned with a raised brow.

''Something leads me to believe that it was no human. I used that jutsu again when we were fighting those missing-nins from Iwa. I was curious, but unlike with that thing, the jutsu did not turn the Iwa nin to ash,'' Naruto explained briefly.

The Iwa missing-nin they had fought were some fools who had said that they wanted Naruto's head. His similarities to his father were not being ignored by some people, especially Iwagakure shinobi. The shinobi they had encountered had said they had become rogue for the purpose of killing him. They were not even sure if he was related to Minato but because he was similar to the man in likeness, they believed that he was related to Konoha's yellow flash. They were not off the mark, but still, they did not have any evidence to prove that claim and yet fought to kill him. That was just a show of how much hatred some Iwa shinobi held for his father. He did not want to be paying for his father's actions. He was his own man and would create his own legacy.

''So you used someone like a test dummy,'' Jiraiya said, surprised that Naruto would do something like that.

''He was dying after I had stabbed him through the chest with his blade,'' Naruto said. He had not used his own blade to fight someone who was not worthy of its power. The man was dying anyway. Whether he had used his jutsu to test a theory or not, the man would have died from his wound. The jutsu just put him away from more pain.

Perhaps he only thought that to sooth his soul

''So you decided to make him useful because he was dying,'' Jiraiya said. His tone was clearly suggesting something and it seemed that he wanted to force something out of Naruto. He wanted the blond to say something or perhaps realize what he had done.

''If you have something to say Jiraiya, just say it,'' Naruto said with narrowed eyes. ''I dislike people who go around me to say something. If you can't say what you want to say, answer my question or just shut up if you don't want to answer.''

''Minato was never this rude me; he always gave me the respect I deserved,'' Jiraiya grumbled quietly. ''No I have not been able to find anything. There is nothing to work with really,'' he said answering Naruto's question.

''Disappointing; I had thought you would have found something,'' Naruto said flatly. Jiraiya felt no insult in those words, so he did not say anything. It seemed that the blond was only expressing his disappointment in not being able to find anything about the thing that had attacked him. ''Have the former Akatsuki members been causing trouble?''

Jiraiya shook his head. ''They have been oddly quite over the past days. I had thought that they would be matching around the world causing chaos. But I don't think they will be silent for long,'' the Sannin explained with a thoughtful look on his face.

''I would imagine so,'' Naruto said. ''Perhaps they are planning for something.''

''I doubt that. Without the Akatsuki leader to make them cooperate with each other, they can never work together. Strong people always have different ideals and they will always clash. An organization in which members always fight would never last or achieve anything. They will most likely destroy themselves from within,'' Jiraiya said in a mature tone.

''I did not think they would work together. I am aware of those facts. The leader of Akatsuki was the strongest; he had to have always put down his authority to get everyone in line.''

''It makes you wonder how strong the man was if he could control 9 S-rank criminals on his own.''

Naruto became silent. He could never know just how strong Pein was given that the man was now dead. He could only hear about the man's power but he would never be able to see it for himself. Well at least now the Akatsuki was no more. Jinchuriki would no longer have to be fearful about their lives. Akatsuki was no more; the danger was gone. They could now only think about moving forward with live and see what it brings. But live was so full of surprises; you might rejoice today thinking the danger was gone, but tomorrow you find yourself waking up with the danger glaring down your face. It was best to just be prepared for anything that life threw at you.

**Kumogakure**

After reaching the village and gaining entrance, Jiraiya and Naruto had went to a hotel which they would stay at during this time within the village. After that, nothing much was said to the other. Jiraiya had to meet with his people and Naruto did not really care for that. Jiraiya's business was his own. Naruto had used this time to leave and mind his own business. They had a few days within the village. They had no hurry to return to Konoha. It was not like there was some emergency that need their attention. With Akatsuki gone, Konoha was relaxed without having to worry about anything troubling or disturbing their peace. With that reason, even the strongest in the village could be away without having to fear someone attacking the village while they were away.

Jiraiya had simply told him not to get into trouble and they could leave in two or three days. Naruto had looked at the Sannin blankly when he had told him not to get into trouble. It was as if he was some misbehaving child that needed to be reminded of where he was. Out of the two of them, he should have been the one to tell Jiraiya to behave his age instead of a child. Seeing that stare of Naruto at that time, the Sannin had accepted that perhaps those words went suited for Naruto. Perhaps the old Naruto would have surely done something to get into trouble, but this one was a lot more mature and smarter enough to realize that some things should not be done, especially since they were no longer in their home village.

This was Kumogakure; they had to trend carefully so not to cause any trouble between this village and Konoha. The villages were already recovering from their strained relationship that had been caused when Kumogakure had attempted to abduct a Hyuuga. This village loved bloodlines. People with bloodlines were treated specially in this village. But even so, they lacked them unlike Konoha and Kirigakure. These two villages boasted the most bloodlines out of all the Great Five Hidden Villages. Despite being huge, Kumogakure lacked them. But the Hyuuga incident had occurred during the Sandaime Raikage's tenure. Now since it was the Yondaime Raikage leading the village, things had cooled down as the current Raikage had made efforts to calm the tensions.

After Jiraiya had left the Hotel, Naruto had applied a Hiraishin seal inside the room before leaving in a flash of yellow to the 'home' he shared with Itachi. But upon arriving there, he did not find the Uchiha. He figured the man might have gone somewhere else. He wanted to go see Konan before returning to Konoha. But there was still some time before he returned home. He still had to go to Kirigakure before going back. So he was not worried about anything. He had left a note to Itachi saying that he would be there at the hideout in two days. If Itachi were to return, he would find the note and wait for him to come. He did not want to be summoned by a Hiraishin Kunai. That would bring him questions should he be with Jiraiya when summoned.

Currently, Naruto was at a secluded training ground within Kumo. It was no problem since he was not using the training ground. He was simply sitting there, meditating. But he never got quite to enjoy his meditation he was pulled to his mindscape.

Naruto stared at the large eyes of the Kyuubi. It was very surprising for the beast to have called him. It never did that before. He was always the one to ignite the conversations with the beast. But they could speak without the other insulting the other. But still, he was the one to come here. The Kyuubi had never pulled him here. 'What is it?' he asked quietly.

**'You felt it too didn't you?**' the Kyuubi said in its deep tone, while staring down at Naruto's small form.

'You have to be specific,' Naruto responded without faltering his stare. He was used to the stare the Kyuubi always gave. He had no fears for it. It might be because he knew the beast could not touch him while it was still locked inside the seal.

**'When you were fighting that man you now called a 'thing'**,' the Bijuu said, it was not bothered by Naruto's response. The blond was not the one to waste time or beat around the bush. He was straight forward with his words.

'The evil chakra,' Naruto said. 'Yes, I sensed it.'

**'What did you think of it**?'

'You have noticed that I have been curious about that thing since I fought it,' Naruto said. The Kyuubi did not say anything since Naruto did not really ask a question. 'I felt traces of your chakra when I destroyed it. It was faint though. But I could never mistake your chakra.'

**'I sensed that to**o,' the Kyuubi said. **'But that was not all that I sensed. It was not my chakra only, there were also other bijuus' chakra I was able to sense.'**

Naruto was silent for a few moments. 'Are you saying that thing had your chakra and other Bijuu's chakra? How would that be even possible?' he was as calm as he could be when he asked the questions.

**'I don't really know,'** the Kyuubi replied. **'I just thought I should inform you since you** **have been bothered by it**,' as those words left the Bijuu's mouth, its eyes closed signaling the end of the conversation.

Naruto turned around and began to walk away from the Bijuu. 'I should not be concerned about this since I destroyed that thing. But why do I have a sick feeling that this is not over?' he questioned himself.

Naruto kept his eyes closed as continued to work on how it could be possible for that thing to have more than one Bijuu's chakra. While he was busy with those thoughts, he felt someone appear before him. But the person did not do anything. He/she merely stood there like they were observing him. And so Naruto went on with his thoughts. How could it be possible? He had never heard of anything like that before. And why did that thing come to him specifically? It had not spoken to him. It did not even say a single word. The chakra was anything like he had ever seen before. He was even denser than the Kyuubi's. Perhaps it was because - as the Kyuubi said - there was more than one Bijuus chakra.

Naruto sighed and opened his eyes as he felt that the person was not leaving him alone. He saw a beautiful blond woman standing in front of him with both her hands rested on her waist. ''…and here I was thinking you would disappear if I just ignored you,'' he said honestly.

Yugito merely shrugged at his honesty. ''This is my training ground,'' she said. ''If anything, I had thought if I stared at you for some time, you would disappear from my training ground and allow me to train.''

''We would have been at an impasse if this was my home village,'' Naruto stated. ''But I am just a visitor here and am trespassing in your place,'' he made no attempt to stand up as he spoke those words. It was like he was merely stating them, but he was not going to leave.

''Yes, so what is it going to be?''

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. ''Considering that you did not kick me the moment you found me here and are still talking nicely to me; I can say that you don't want me to leave,'' he paused for a moment. ''So, what is it going to be?'' he returned her question.

Yugito brought out her hand, ''Yugito Nii,'' she said.

Naruto brought out his own hand and shook hers, ''Naruto Namikaze,'' he said. He had not been hiding to anyone the fact that his family name was Namikaze. Uzumaki was also a family name but from his mother. His birth name was Namikaze. He had not hidden anything to anyone, not even in Konoha. The truth would surely be found. It was best that it came out on his own terms instead of someone's.

''Namikaze?'' Yugito said. ''Well you do look awfully a lot like him,'' she said not making a big deal out of his surname. Naruto was not surprised by this. It was what he expected from everyone.

''So does everyone say,'' Naruto said flatly.

''What brings Konoha shinobi in Kumogakure?'' Yugito asked settling beside the other blond.

Naruto shrugged. ''I am merely accompanying Jiraiya to rid of the boredom I have been feeling in Konoha,'' he felt no need to lie to Yugito. ''Has the Raikage only sent you here to question what I am doing here?''

The question by means did not catch Yugito off-guard. ''What makes you say that?''

''This may truly be your training ground but nobody trains at this time of the day. And it seems to me that this training ground has not been used for some time. If it had been, I would have been able to sense feel your Bijuu's chakra given that Kumo Jinchuriki never fight without using their Bijuus' power,'' Naruto explained calmly without pause.

Yugito was not surprised that he knew she was a Jinchuriki. Well, everyone in Kumogakure knew she was a Jinchuriki - her status was not hidden from the villagers. ''You are right; I have not been training here in a few days. But I was not sent by Raikage-sama here. I just overheard him talking with his ANBU that the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and possibly the son of Konoha's yellow flash was in the village. So I just thought I would check you out. It is not everyday that you meet another Jinchuriki from another village.''

Naruto had raised an eyebrow as she spoke, ''I would expect people of suspect that the Yondaime was my father, but my Jinchuriki status? No. It has been a closely guarded secret in Konoha,'' the blond stated. The Sandaime had made sure the fact that he was a Jinchuriki was kept secret and did not leave the village walls, even though the old generation where aware of it, they were not permitted to talk about it. It was a crime punishable with death should they even say ''Kyuubi''.

It was obvious to Yugito why his status would be kept hidden. But Konoha had a good reputation about it, she did not think they could be just as bad as other villages, ''So even the almighty Konoha hates Jinchuriki,'' the comment about ''almighty'' was said in a rather sarcastic tone.

Naruto merely smiled. ''You would think they would not, but they are not different. But it is unlike Kumogakure, the Raikage's brother is hailed as a hero of the village and you too in most parts,'' he stated. Killer Bee, the Raikage's brother, was hailed as the guardian of Kumo. But it was not always like that. He was hated at first, but they warmed up for it.

''Yeh,'' Yugito said. Something clicked on her mind. ''You are the son of the man who died protecting Konoha and the villagers hated you; that must have been really hell.''

''At times it was,'' Naruto admitted. He was not going to tell her that he did not know that Minato was his father until after the Sound/Sand invasion. And he was only told by Itachi. Had it not been for the Uchiha, he probably would have been in the dark about his heritage even now. Konoha was also not aware of the fact that his father was Minato. He doubted it would have made a difference if they had known though. Perhaps if Minato was alive. But that was that.

''It really does suck being a Jinchuriki at times. But it has its benefits,'' Yugito said earning a small nod from Naruto. ''Where you really bored in Konoha?''

''Yeh, I had absolutely nothing to do than to have a few training sessions with two good people,'' Naruto responded smiling at the thought of calling Guy and Lee good people. Well, they were the most honest and hardworking duo he had ever known.

''That does not sound too boring,'' Yugito said. ''Well that is unless you don't have a social life.''

Naruto shrugged. People he would call friends were rather loud. They had no plans like he did. He forfeited his right to have fun in pursue of his dream. His peers were always thinking about having fun, boyfriends and girlfriends. They did not think about world peace. Only Shikamaru did not have thoughts like the rest. But even so with his dream, it did not mean he would abandon his humanity. It was far from it. The thing was that; he prioritized in finding peace first than having life as a young fellow. If he were to leave his goal, his heart would never find rest. He could never rest peacefully and forget about what really happened out there in the dark shadows. He may not be powerful enough to stop all evil, but he would gather all the power he needed and all the helpers he would need to make his dream come true.

The two then continued on talking about this and that. Nothing serious was being said. Naruto was just pleased that he had managed to get to know another Jinchuriki. For his plans, he had to be familiar with all of them if not, most of them. Bijuu's were seen as means to balance the power between villages, but it was no longer like that. He knew what Jinchuriki go through in their lives, they would not be difficult to sway and get to work with him. But for now, he would see out their personalities before making his dream known to them. With them behind him, his plans would be put into motion.

''Hey, do you want go and get something to eat?'' Yugito said calmly.

''Sure, why not,'' Naruto said standing up. He could use something to eat. Time was flying fast towards evening. ''Shall we?''

Yugito stood up with a small smile on her face. ''I know a good place where we can eat. You will like it,'' she said rather happily.

**The following Day**

Naruto landed on the ground with both his feet. He had just dodged another lightning jutsu from Yugito. She woman was very persistent and tireless in her efforts to hit him with her jutsus. But because he did not want to reveal too much of his strength, he was put at a disadvantage. The only thing he was any good at the moment was his speed. He was superior to Yugito in speed and was not foolish enough to make mistakes to be caught. He was always alert when fighting. He knew that Genjutsu would not work on her since she had a good relationship with her Bijuu. Her beast would zap her out of it quickly should he succeed in putting her under one. It would make his efforts useless because he won't have the time to do what he wants to do.

Yugito landed down on the ground a few feet away from him. She did not look too pleased at him. Her look was somewhat a glare. ''Come on, Naruto. I know we don't know each that much. We only started talking yesterday, but come on! This is becoming infuriating if you keep playing this way. It is not like I am going to tell the Raikage of your skills or anything!''

''You have not sensed that he is watching, have you?'' Naruto asked with a blank look across his face. The Raikage along with Jiraiya were watching their little sparing session from afar. He would have thought she had have sensed them. But he could guess that she was too focused on him than their surroundings.

''Huh?''

''The Raikage and Jiraiya are watching now as we speak,'' Naruto said, pointing at his left side. A distance away, the said men were standing beside each other on top of a large rock observing them.

Yugito looked and saw them. She smiled, ''This is more reason to take this seriously. I will tell you a little secret, the Raikage respects men with muscles. If you are weak, then he won't respect you and won't even listen to what you have to say,'' she explained calmly.

Naruto did not know why she would tell him that, but it worked well for him. If the Raikage did respect strength, then he would show the man strength. He went through hand seals in speeds that Yugito could not follow. He muttered words that she did not hear completely. It seemed like nothing had happened for a few moments until gusts of winds picked up around him, lifting up debris. The debris was quick to disappear as the gusts died down. No change had occurred to Naruto. He still looked the same and there was no visible change to his appearance nor a change in feel of his chakra.

''What did you do?'' Yugito asked curiously. Jiraiya from afar had the same question. He knew that the blond had done something, but he could not see it. He could also not feel anything. But something inside of him assured him that the blond had done something. It was curious since he had never seen Naruto go those hand seals before. If he had released his resistance seals, he would have noted it. Perhaps he had released them.

''Attack me and you will find out,'' Naruto responded calmly.

Yugito did not wait for a second invitation, she burst out towards the blond in greater speed than she had been using before. The take off lifted up debris behind her as she sped towards Naruto. She reached him in less than a second. The blond had not even moved a muscle, he merely looked at her calmly. Yugito was not arrogant enough to believe that she had simply moved far faster for him to react. She knew that he was planning something, but she was not going to stop her attack. She would just have to be extra careful and alert so not to get hit carelessly.

She swung her left punch towards Naruto in fast movements. Still, Naruto did not move, just as he was about to be hit, he disappeared, just like that. He was there this second and in the same second, he was gone. The movement was so fast that it shocked Yugito. Even the Raikage was greatly surprised. Naruto appeared behind Yugito and held out his right hand as he gathered pure natural wind around his hand. He stopped midway suddenly and brought out his hand in front of him. He looked at it with a blank look.

Seeing him busy with his hand, Yugito charged towards him before jumping up into midair. She spun around and attempted to kick him on the forehead, but Naruto ducked under the kick without even looking at her. He quickly looked up as he felt that the woman was not done. Yugito attempted to slam both her hands on top of his head, but Naruto did not try to block the attack. Yugito's hands slammed onto his head, but instead of being forced down by the blow, Yugito was sent flying away from the blond. Despite her surprise, she was quick to recover from the momentum and flipped several times before landing on the ground.

She looked calmly at Naruto as he stood up. ''What just happened?'' she felt as though she was hit by some invisible force as soon as she touched him. It even hurt hitting him. It did not feel like she hit him at all. It felt like she hit some stone cold wall.

''Wind,'' Naruto said shortly. He did not look like he was going to explain further.

''Explain,'' Yugito stated seeing that the blond was not going to explain to her what he had done. It definitely had something to do with what he did during round two.

''Did you not wonder why I suddenly became faster than I had been?'' Naruto responded to Yugito with a question.

''Yeh, well I did wonder,'' she said. ''I could guess that you might have something that resists your movements, or you just had not been moving at your full speed before,'' she explained in a thoughtful tone and a thoughtful expression on her face. But he had said ''Wind'', what did wind have to do with anything?

''The speed I had been using was merely pure speed, although not my full pure speed. At that level you could have caught me if you wanted to. I can see that you are a lot faster than you have been letting on,'' Naruto stated as he held a single hand seal. The winds around him picked up again before spinning around furiously for a moment. And then they settled down. ''I was ''wearing'' wind like cloth. Doing so, makes me light as wind, thus increasing my speed. You could call it a wind armor. It can repel physical attacks and ninjutsu. It is almost impossible to breakthrough,'' he gave a light explanation of his technique. But there was a limit to it.

''Is it any different from the Raikage's lightning cloak?'' the Raikage's lightning armor makes him faster than anyone and his attacks, physical attacks, deadly. It would certainly be interesting if Naruto had created a technique like his.

''They are similar. But the big difference is that mine is wind and it is designed as a defense technique and also increases my speed. It also gives me control over wind to a certain degree.''

''How does it work?''

Naruto placed his hand on his forehead; a seal appeared all over his head and hands. Although Yugito could not see it, the seal was all over his body. ''I only completed this seal a few days ago and applied it. The seal is all over my body,'' as he spoke, the seal disappeared. ''The seal works as a conductor for wind. It absorbs the wind around me and makes it a part of me. The wind becomes my second skin. All my chakra is converted into wind chakra inside my body. The wind that is released is infused with my chakra. When the seal is active and imparts wind into my body, I can feel the wind around me. I can feel every movement around the area as well as manipulate the wind around me. The strength and how fast I can go depends on the wind pressure in the atmosphere.'' He could manipulate wind even without the jutsu activated.

Yugito was silent for a few moments. ''That seems complex,'' she said. ''Is that even humanly possible without the seal?''

''Yes,'' Naruto said, although he doubted anyone would be able to achieve it. ''I almost destroyed my chakra system when I attempted it. I would have been possibly killed also if it had not been for the Kyuubi. But it is possible without the seal. I just have yet to perfect it without it, hence I have created the seal.'' he certainly did not want to remember that day. The damn fox had been surely infuriated that he had almost killed them both. He had never seen the Kyuubi angry like that. It had taken much of the fox's chakra to heal him. And for him to be healed, he had to be in a one-tailed fox state. But soon he would be able to perform the jutsu without the seal helping him. He just had to train more and more and then he would grasp his technique fully.

''Seriously?'' Naruto nodded. ''How strong is its defense? I have seen your speed and how your are quick you are to react.''

''I have so far used it with clones. Anything less than S-rank is child's play,'' Naruto responded.

''Can I test that?'' Yugito asked with a smile that would not make anyone comfortable.

Naruto shook his head. ''I have deactivated it. It is not yet perfect and the wind here is not strong.''

''A technique like that has to have some drawbacks,'' Yugito said. ''If I remember correctly, you said all your chakra is turned into wind chakra. That does mean you can only use wind based jutsu.''

''You are quite perceptive,'' Naruto commented. ''That is somewhat true; I cannot do anything other than manipulate the wind around me. But at the same time, the wind techniques I can use are mostly large scale. I had created this technique with fighting a group of opponents in mind.''

''Is that all the disadvantages?'' Naruto only smiled. That was a definite no. There were more drawbacks of using such a technique. Naruto was not going to tell her that. The jutsu was quite dangerous to his body. That is why he never lists it as an ace or even bothered to hide it. He was still developing it. In terms of speed, he was okay to run with it. But other things and its effects to his body were things that he still had to look at carefully. There was also a limit on how long he could keep it activated. At the moment, the time was very small. He had stopped gathering wind around his hand earlier because he could feel some strain on his muscles. If the problem continued, he would only use the technique for speed, defense and to increase his senses. He could turn it on and off whenever he wanted.

''Talking has waned my interest in this little show,'' Naruto said quietly, but loud enough for Yugito to hear him.

''My thoughts exactly,'' she actually agreed with him.

It did not take that long for Jiraiya and the Raikage to appear before the two. The Raikage had a small smile while Jiraiya looked at Naruto as if he was trying to read his mind. At first the blond refused to show his true strength. He only revealed that he was exceptional in taijutsu, fast and a master of fuinjutsu. There was also his use of the Flying Thunder God technique. When he fought that thing, he showed his good use of both lightning and Wind elements. He was also capable of using Fire element. So Jiraiya had this question; how much more of his abilities was Naruto hiding?

Naruto saw the Sannin staring at him. He flicked his finger towards the Sannin, sending a small pressure of wind towards him. Jiraiya did not see anything until he was hit. It pressure did nothing painful. It accomplished making Jiraiya glare at the blond, ''That is how much I can manipulate wind,'' Naruto stated. ''Now stop looking at me like that. That look does not suite you.''

Jiraiya grumbled something. The Raikage merely laughed finding Naruto's interaction with Jiraiya amusing. ''You have an interesting boy, Jiraiya.''

''He is not fun anymore,'' that did not seem to be a response to the Raikage's statement.

The man shook his head and looked at Naruto. ''If you have some impressive speed. I must test my speed with yours to see if I am still faster. But you will have to perfect your technique,'' he said. Minato had been the only shinobi to ever go faster than him. It would be interesting to see what his son could do.

''That sounds like a plan,'' Naruto said smiling slightly. ''Perhaps I might relieve you as the fastest man in the Elemental Nations.''

''You can try,'' the Raikage stated. ''Many have tried but aside from your father, none have succeeded.''

''Shinobi of these days are a lot more relaxed and lack the drive to become stronger unlike your generation. The current world without war as only brought about a weak generation. No one now can compare to the strength Hashirama had. It is not that it is impossible to reach the feet's he reached, we of today lack the drive,'' Naruto stated something that even surprised Jiraiya. ''But I have something that drives me. That is why I can stand here and Say; the next time I return to this village, I will be faster than you with a jutsu of my creation.''

There was some silence after Naruto had spoken. ''Bold words,'' he did not scoff at Naruto's words, he accepted the challenge. ''What drives you?'' the Raikage asked curiously.

Naruto merely kept his small smile as he responded. ''You will know after I have proved to be faster than you. Doesn't that make things interesting?''

''Yes it does,'' the Raikage said with a nod. ''Come on Jiraiya. Let us go back to my office and allow the kids to play.''

Jiraiya started to have some normal thoughts running through his head. ''Let me know if you are going to do something that might be attracting to my 'research' with her,'' he stated with a perverted grin looking at Naruto before disappearing with the Raikage.

''What did he mean by that?'' Yugito asked curiously as she had heard the Sannin speak.

Naruto looked straight into Yugito's eyes. ''Knowing him; I would imagine he means to notify him if I were to do anything sexual with you so that he could watch,'' yap he said it.

''What?'' it was not that she did not understand him; She understood his words clearly. She just did not think that he would say it aloud like that with a straight face.

**a day Later**

''Are you always like this?'' Yugito commented as she looked straight at Naruto. They were on top of the Raikage tower, sitting comfortably. The blond was going to be leaving in a few hours with Jiraiya. The Sannin had said he should meet him here because he wanted to say something to A before they left. But he had not seen the toad sage ever since yesterday when he gave him the message. It was not like he had even bothered to look for him. He knew that he would eventually make his way to the tower.

''These days, I just prefer to be quite. But I was not always like this,'' he smiled slightly remembering his old days. He was sure loud and annoying back then. He had been told that a few times by many people. But even so, he was quite crafty.

Those are the days when he was young and naive. He had always thought that everything would turn out the way he wanted them to. But not everything worked out the way you wanted them to. Sometimes things just spat you out and reject your ideals. Nothing much had worked out for him during those days. He was quite pathetic in everything. At least he had a kind heart and a warm smile. But his experience had taught him much. Without experiencing what he has experienced, he would have never thought of trying to change the world. He would have simply let it be the way it was. But because of those experiences, he knows the true nature of the shinobi world. There were some positive from his hateful childhood.

Yugito was interested in hearing what Naruto had been like in his younger days. From these days she has been with him, he has been acting a lot more mature, perhaps more than many people she knows. He did not always speak, but when he spoke, she had to listen to him. ''So how were you like before this? Seems interesting given that fond smile on your face,'' she stated. He indeed had a smile on his face.

''There is not much to tell,'' Naruto said. Actually, there were many things he could tell her. He had done a fair number of crazy things in his genin days. He just was not going to tell her everything. ''But I was probably the loudest genin in Konoha. I was often called 'Konoha's no 1 unpredictable shinobi'. My clothing was orange, and I was always looking for attention. I did anything to get attention. Either be provoking people or painting someone's shop; anything passed, as long as I got some response from it. I was stupid then...'' he then explained a few things to Yugito who listened inventively.

''You seem have had a lot of fun back then,'' she said after the blond had finished speaking. Well the fun was part of it, there was also the loneliness which was no surprise given that he was a Jinchuriki.

''You could put it in that way,'' Naruto said. He had his share of fun. That is if you call going around the village causing mass chaos and then to have a number of ANBU run after you. They were always chasing him, well at least he learnt something from those days. Running around the village had him have the village's map imprinted within his head.

''You know, after seeing how fast you can go, it is not hard to believe that you could outrun ANBUs,'' Yugito said. The blond had proven to be very fast, even faster than her. Speed like what Naruto has shown is not something that takes a year to achieve. Well, that is what she believes anyway.

''You would not believe it, if I told you that a three years ago, I could not be counted in the list of fast genins,'' Naruto said looking up at the heavens. The sky was sometimes cloudy in this village. But it all made for a nice view when he looks up at the sky. The heavens were peaceful; he wished to reach up there or at least attract them so that they could shower the world with peace.

''Seriously?'' Naruto merely nodded. ''How did you become this fast in a short time?''

''Through a training program that would probably kill or end a shinobi career of one that is not a Jinchuriki,'' Naruto stated. But Gai and Lee would probably survive. Those two always seemed to survive anything given to them. That is what made him admire them and their determination.

''Can you give me something that will make me understand what sort of training you went through?''

Naruto shook his head. ''I'd rather not,'' he said, losing his smile. ''How about you? Tell me about your life as a Jinchuriki.''

Yugito stopped smiling as Naruto had. She would rather not talk about the matter, but since the blond has so far been open to her. She could as well do the same even though they did not know much about each other. Well, he was a Jinchuriki like her, that should give him some points. ''I was made a Jinchuriki when I was two years old. When my body had developed, I was put through a harsh training so that I could control my Bijuu's chakra. I lived, and breathed training from childhood. There was nothing that I was allowed to do other than train. I only got a break after I had succeeded in controlling the power I was forced to contain.''

''So you were made to be a weapon,'' Naruto said. That was the truth. Most villages had turned their Jinchurikis into weapons of war. He had been lucky that the Sandaime had forbidden anything like that from happening. Danzou had tried many times to have him turned into a weapon for Konoha, but the old man had stopped it from happening. At least he was not a total failure in everything. ''Training to control a Bijuu's power is not an easy task. When your body is not used to the chakra, it burns you. I would imagine that it took you years to finally have complete control.''

Yugito nodded. ''Can you control your Bijuu's power?'' she asked curiously. So far, he had seemed like he was capable of using any of it. But then again, he also seemed good at hiding things.

''No,'' Naruto responded shortly. It was no lie. ''The Kyuubi's chakra is different from other bijuus'. I have also not given it much time to control it. But I can control some of it, not all of it.''

''So you are the only Jinchuriki who can't control his bijuus power,'' Yugito stated. As far as she had been told, the other Jinchuriki could use and control their bijuus power fully. But Naruto could not do that. Perhaps it was because he was never forced to train.

''I am aware of that,'' Naruto acknowledged. But that did not meant that he was the weakest of the Jinchuriki. He looked behind him as he sensed Jiraiya. ''Ah, it seems our time is over,'' he said standing up.

''It appears so,'' Yugito said looking at Jiraiya. At this moment, Jiraiya had to bite himself from making a cheeky comment. It would have been nice if he could make one. But Naruto would not be pleased if he did.

''You should come by at Konoha sometimes.''

''I might,'' Yugito smiled. ''But you are still gone come back again, right?''

''Yes; I still have my match with the Raikage,'' he looked at Jiraiya before looking back at Yugito. ''I will see you then,'' with that he disappeared. Jiraiya also followed shortly but not before winking at Yugito.

**Naruto and Jiraiya**

''I should have taught you about women,'' Jiraiya said as he caught up to Naruto. ''You do not leave a woman like that, Naruto.''

''Jiraiya,'' Naruto started without even looking at the Sannin. ''...I do not need lessons from you.''

Jiraiya shrugged off the response from Naruto. ''Although, I do think you were a little bit friendly to Yugito. You show no interest in any of the women in Konoha or in anyone for that matter. Perhaps it is because Yugito is a Jinchuriki.''

''What are you suggesting, Jiraiya?''

Again, the Sannin shrugged. ''I am not suggesting anything.'' his eyes narrowed at the Raikage. ''You lied to the Raikage; you are faster than him when using the Hiraishin. You also made sure to hide the fact that you could use it. Instead, you showed a new technique. You did it on purpose knowing that the Raikage was watching and he would take some interest you.''

''Hmm?'' Naruto eyed the Sannin. ''...For what purpose, I wonder...''

**Wow, it has been a very long time since I updated this story. I never thought that I would take this much time to get the next chapter going with how I started this one, but things happen and I found myself preferring to try to get Uchiha Naruto: The Sage done rather than updating this one. Well anyway, I hope that this chapter was not disappointing. **

**By the time Naruto returns to Konoha, he will be having a few female friends and experienced some things that will lead him to be a little lively. But nothing drastic to his personality will change. **

**About the pairings; I still have yet to decide on who Naruto will be paired with. It is hard to pick one since there the woman I want him to end up will have to influence him on his dream. But there is a big possibility that there will be more than one love interest for Naruto. He might have a relationship that is not based on love at first, but eventually it will be. So in regards to this subject, anything is still possible.**

**Naruto's power is not anything godlike, he still has much to improve on - even though I have been giving more abilities that make him really strong. The enemy that he has to deal with will be much stronger. But I will not be making an enemy who will be indestructible. You will get to see more of them 'weapon' after Naruto has returned to Konoha. **

**One thing to remind in this story, It will also have deaths to important people that are close to Naruto. So in the end of the journey, Naruto won't be having everyone he started the journey with. There will be pain and everything. There will be times when darkness will seem to be trying to consume him - and the Kyuubi won't be doing anything to help. There will be times when Naruto will be down on the ground hopeless. The will be betrayals. So get your popcorn ready, cause it is going to be one hell of a show.**

**Don't worry thinking that Naruto won't have much to lose because he does not associate himself with other people. But I will ask you this question; how can you achieve peace on your own without making friends, without those to help you when you are donw? **

**I will try by all means to make this thrilling, and not everything will go the 'heroes' way. It may be true that the hero always wins, but sometimes evil can win. So don't be surprised when Naruto dies at the end without peace being achieved.**

**''...''**

**Nah, I am just messing with you.**

**Ah, despite being one looking for peace, there will be times when Naruto will be a little manipulative and cold. But he will never forget his friends or betray his friends. Perhaps I should not be saying this...**

**There is a possibility that Konoha might be caught up in a civil war or another invasion. I don't know, but there will be deaths of good people in it. Well I should not say more.**

**See ya in the next chapter. **

**Rob Mulaudzi is out! **


	10. Chapter 10

I don't usually put my authors note in the start of my chapters, but circumstances are forcing me to do it this way. And I will make this one short.

I have been having some technical problems and the characters were on strike demanding better wages - which I did not want to pay since its my story and my scripts. All they have to do is read the damn thing and smile to the camera. I ended up firing them all and have been looking for new actors...

Okay, seriously, my pc died, and is still dead. I was able to get this chapter prepared using a friend's pc. But I have been working on something, so I should be back to updating regularly next week.

On to the story; it won't be less than 30 chapters as I had said before, it will be more than that. Uzu will also be used in the story. This will be done to ensure that ''Uzumaki'' is not forgotten since Naruto uses his father's name. Now, Naruto will be faced with some nasty things - like having his girlfriend he so loves ripped into pieces while he watches helplessly. Seriously, I might consider that. That being said, expect some dark things from him.

I had not realized that Naruto becomes predictable. I will work on that and will ensure that he does not continue to be predictable and does not come out as arrogant. In the latter chapters I will work on something.

Things will get a little interesting at least from chapter 12.

To my readers; thanks for the continued support.

As for pairings, I won't be speaking much about it from now on. I see most reviewers have said something about the matter. But I have yet to decide on anything. Even in chapter 17, Naruto won't be paired with anyone. But I will introduce him to some females to make things a bit easy when I do decide. And I think I will introduce an oc in the next chapter or 12.

Chapter 10

Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a curious expression on his face; the blond had changed more than he had thought one would be capable of in three years. When Naruto had been nearly killed by Sasuke, he had seen that the blond had changed. His near death at the hands of his friend had caused him to experience pain that was so much than the pain he had felt upon being pierced by a **Chidori**. Sasuke had messed up things for both of them. Well, at least now he was grounded within Konoha. But the Uchiha had been turned into nothing but a merciless killer. Working for Root and the normal ANBU was not doing the Uchiha any good. Well, at least working with Kakashi had driven some morals into his head. He could be a nice person to some degree. He had seen the boy a couple of times with Kakashi and they seemed to get along well to some degree.

Tsunade was always worried for the blond ever since he returned. But he could only hope that Naruto had changed for the best. Being an idiotic child of a shinobi would have done him no good. It would have simply led to his premature death. Added to that, Naruto was way too naive. For a Jinchuriki, it was not a good thing. But now he knew that the blond was no longer naive. He was smart and calculating. He may not look to be calculating, but he had seen it. When he looks at some interesting people, the blond always measures them up. There was also that thing with the Raikage. He could understand befriending Yugito as she was a fellow Jinchuriki. The two of them could share much about their different lives and what they had to encounter after being made human sacrifices. But the fact that since Naruto returned has never seemed to be interesting in making friends, made him think otherwise. But he could understand that.

Yugito was also a woman, a desirable woman for that matter.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. It was not good to indulge in those kinds of thoughts. This could only bring him trouble and without peace of mind. There was no problem, especially when he knew that Naruto was not the one to be plotting evil. He was far better than that. Despite the obvious change in attitude, Naruto was still Naruto. He may have gotten rid of his naivety and stupidity, but he was still his Godson and Minato's son. He did not believe that someone with those relations could be evil. He smiled at those train of thoughts. He was happy that at least he was here to stand with the blond at this time. He still had many years as an active shinobi ahead of him. So no matter what, he would always make sure he was behind Naruto, watching his every move.

It was far better than anything.

Naruto looked at the Sannin; he saw the smile the man had. But he did wonder what got the man smiling. He looked away, ''If Konoha and Kumogakure were to clash, which would take victory?'' he asked curiously.

Jiraiya was surprised at the question, but responded nonetheless. ''It would be hard to tell; Kumo has two Jinchuriki who can control their Bijuus power, while you can't. They also boast the ''fastest'' man in the Shinobi world. They have a host of shinobi more than any other shinobi village. But quantity does not always mean quality. This is where Konoha excels; our shinobi are trained far better than Kumo's. Well Kakashi's generation anyway. Your generation is quite relaxed. Konoha still has us two sannin's, and our toad summons,'' the Sannin gave his response.

''Kumo would still have the advantage with Killer Bee and Yugito,'' Naruto said. If those two transform into their Bijuus, they would certainly lay waste to an army. ''That is if unless we who are adept to seals seal away their Bijuus power. Kumo has no renowned seal master to boast about.''

Jiraiya nodded. If you could not fight a Jinchuriki, you could always seal away their power. One just had to be good with seals and have the power to get close enough to activate the seal. ''But we still have the **Hiraishin**. We need only to have you in the front lines and have you flood the enemy lines with your special Kunais. Then we would also have an advantage without even putting our shinobi in the line,'' he paused for a moment. ''It would only take me to battle with Raikage. The man may be fast, but I am a sage,'' he sounded proud of that fact. There were no other sages he could speak off.

''So it would be a hard battle that would cost multiple lives,'' Naruto stated. It was best to make sure that nothing happened between the two villages that would provoke a war. ''You are proud of your Sage power,'' he stated eyeing the Sannin.

Jiraiya smiled. ''It was not easy to gain it. It actually took me some time to learn it and be able to use it. Being able to use Senjutsu puts you above anyone else. Perhaps one day you will see me using it, then you will see the power of Sage mode.''

''Last time I heard from the Toads, you did not perfect it and actually need the toads to activate it,'' Naruto said, he just wanted to see how Jiraiya would react to that. The expression may be amusing to him. He was not anything sadistic, though. He had been told of how long it took Jiraiya to learn Senjutsu. But even after that time, he was never able to master it. Despite being unable to master it, he had been told that the Sannin was very powerful when in Sage mode, and that he had never lost a battle in that state.

Jiraiya eyed Naruto. The blond had talked with the Toads about Senjutsu. There was a possibility that he had been trained. But Naruto was too young for it. He doubted the Toads would have trained him even with his maturity. Even if they had decided to train him, he would have been told about it. He was the contract holder with the Toads, they would never do it without telling him. ''I could have perfected it,'' he defended his failure. ''I just did not have enough time to continue with the training. And after some time, I never bothered to perfect it. It is not an impossible task for me. I could do it if I want.''

''So you say,'' Naruto responded, with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

''Are you saying that I can't master Senjutsu even if I wanted?''

Naruto shook his head. ''You are one of the Legendary Sannins and boast powers comparible to Kages. You are capable of fighting two S-rank criminals in your own with your Sage mode. Something easy as absorbing natural energy could never be a task for such a man,'' the tone was so calm and reserved. One could never be persuaded to think that the comment was sarcastic.

But the truth was that Naruto was mocking him. He was not joking about the fact that Jiraiya was a powerful shinobi in sage mode. No, he knew the power of Senjutsu, and for that, Jiraiya would always have his respect.

''By those kinds of words I could say that you have trained in Senjutsu and actually found it easy. I do find it hard to believe though,'' he shook his head. ''The Toads would have told me if they decided to train you in something as important and powerful as Senjutsu.''

''They certainly would have,'' Naruto responded. That is unless, they had been told not to. Jiraiya was forgetting that they had refused to even tell him where he had been after he had ''left'' the man to train somewhere - where he eventually met with Itachi. ''How long do we have till we reach the Wave Country?''

They were currently heading to Wave country to board a ship to Kirigakure. Jiraiya had decided to take the long way around since he was in no hurry to return to Konoha. With the Akatsuki gone, there was nothing much interesting to do other than keep track of the information going around the Elemental Nations. But it was sometimes better to enjoy the peace before some idiot or power hungry fool started to go around causing chaos. If trouble were to start, he would have been busy trying to get as much information he could and working hard to protect Konoha and its interests. It kept him busy, but having to go all around killing people was not enjoyable. He would rather do his ''research'' than fight. But of course, if it was fighting for Konoha, he would drop everything.

''We should be there tomorrow night in our current pace,'' Jiraiya responded in a thoughtful tone. They are still within the Fire country border, but not far from the borders of the Wave country. The two were walking rather than use the trees to travel at fast speeds.

Naruto nodded and became quite. A ship would also take a while to reach Kirigakure. The way to the Mist village would be a quiet and boring one. But perhaps the sea would be pleasant to watch. Certainly. but it was obvious that Jiraiya would be talking along the way and whoever they would be journeying with would surely make noise. He just hoped that they did not come across drunkards. Those kind of people never stopped talking once they opened their mouths. And they spoke nonsense; it was irritating to listen to them. Sometimes he could be called rude for walking away or falling asleep when such people started to cough out whatever they had eaten.

Again, Jiraiya looked at Naruto; with everything he has seen, the blond was strong. He had returned far better than he would have thought. He could admit it to himself that if Naruto had not run away from him he would not have made him this strong. But still, he could not figure out just how strong he was. ''You have the Flying Thunder God technique; you can hold your own against Gai - who is a taijutsu master, for some time. Your kenjutsu skills are good. Your use of your sword is quite impressive, especially when you use lightning element with it. I have no yet seen you make use of genjutsu. But I would not be surprised if you can't use it given your chakra. Your ninjutsu arsenal is at least jounin-level. My question is; how strong are you Naruto?''

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a slightly bored look on his face. ''Does it bother you that much?''

Jiraiya did not waste time in responding. ''Yes,'' he came a firm answer, accompanied by a nod.

''I am also curious as well,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''Are you saying that you don't know how strong you are?'' Naruto did not respond for he knew how strong he was. But it was fun watching Jiraiya try to puzzle it out. ''Fight me and we will find out. I will take you seriously this time since I have seen what you can do.''

''If you can pick up pieces of what I have shown of my strength so far, you can conclude how strong I might be,'' Naruto responded. Jiraiya has seen him fight in different fights. And each time, he used something different.

''I have seen you fight, but I am curious as to what more of your strength you are hiding.''

''You believe I am still hiding something after all I have made you witness?'' Naruto questioned with a raised brow. Jiraiya nodded in response. ''If I am still hiding something, you will find out eventually. If not, then you would have wasted valuable time trying to find things that do not exist.''

Jiraiya shrugged. ''Well as long as we are still together, I will find out something eventually.''

Naruto released a sigh. The man was quite persistent. ''What has your former friend been up to over the past years?''

''You mean Orochimaru?'' Naruto nodded. ''I don't know; he has been oddly quite. As always, he covers his tracks well. Ever since his failed attempt to get Sasuke, he has never tried anything,'' he looked at the blond beside him to see how he would react upon his mention of Sasuke's name. To his surprise, nothing. Naruto gave no outward reaction. His expression remained slightly bored.

Naruto did not even waste his thoughts on Sasuke. ''So the snake is probably hiding in its nest plotting something,'' he stated ignoring the look the Sannin had given him.

Jiraiya sighed, seeing he got nothing from the blond. ''Probably,'' he agreed with Naruto. The snake was probably plotting something. He was good at such things when he gave himself time.

''Last time he plotted, he joined Akatsuki before he formed his own village. The village was formed for his experiments. He also plotted the invasion to Konoha three years ago,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''I wonder what he is planning next.''

Jiraiya became thoughtful. The new Naruto had his moments, and was actually more attentive to the happening around him; that was a good thing. ''Nothing good...'' definitely. The snake would never plot anything good. He was always on the path of destruction. He was always venturing to achieve his own selfish goals.

''What of Danzou?''

Jiraiya looked at Naruto curiously. From the tone he used, it seemed like he knew something. It was as if he knew the true workings of the ROOT commander. How could the blond know of it? To any jounin who has no ANBU connections, Danzou was just an old man who commands ROOT ANBU. ''That makes me wonder what you know of him,'' he said in thought. ''He also has been quite. I don't know if he is planning anything. With hime in charge, his movements are limited since she does not allow him to do as he pleases like sensei.''

''That is good. At least there is some level of control in the village,'' Naruto said before becoming silent. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at him as it seemed like he was insinuating something. But what? He did not voice out his thoughts. He merely walked in silence as they continued on their path to the wave country.

**The wave country**

''This does bring back some memories,'' Naruto stated looking straight at the Great Naruto Bridge with a fond smile on his face. They had finally reached the Wave country in their slow place. It was certain that they would not automatically get inboard a ship towards the Mist village. A ship had its own time for hitting the sea and travelling towards its destined location. So they would have to book their way on the ship and wait for the day it finally boards. But given that Kirigakure was out of its civil war and the Wave was no longer being rule by Gatou, the shipping business was very much active. This meant that they would only be delayed by a day or two. But even if they were lucky, they would still get a ship before nightfall.

Jiraiya would not want that though. He would want to stay for the night and leave the following day. The rest of the day would be probably spent on drinking and spending money of physical pleasure and his peeping activities. The man was shameless in all that he was. He did not hide his perverted nature; he was in fact proud of it and proclaimed it whenever he felt like it. Well, at least he was no longer that brat who the Sannin would rob money to pay for useless things. Jiraiya used his own money to pay for their hotels and some meals. But he usually paid for the meals he ate since whenever they found a hotel the Sannin would disappear of the hot springs to peep on naked women. He would spend the night out lying somewhere drunk.

Well, at least there some people he knew in this country. It would not be a complete boredom. He had been here before, the bridge of this country was named after him; he was the hero of the Wave country. It was amusing that his weak and pathetic young self was able to become a hero of this village even when he was that stupid. Had it not been for the Kyuubi, he would probably have been killed, no, Haku would not have done it. The boy hated killing, he would have simply put him in a death state like he did with Him.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto's smile and smiled too, ''Ah, you can still smile like that,'' he stated slightly happy. It was not like Naruto never smiled. It was just that it was never done in front of him. And on the rare occasions he had ''caught'' the blond smiling, the smile would simply disappear as soon as he spoke. He was surprised, though, this time Naruto's smile did not vanish. It stayed on its place. He felt kind of disappointed because he had thought it would and it did not.

''This place was the place I completed my first A-rank mission as a genin,'' Naruto stated in a calm tone. ''I am sure even a Sannin would smile upon remembering his first A-rank mission,'' Naruto responded in a quite tone that gave away nothing of his thoughts.

''My first A-rank mission was done long ago,'' Jiraiya said looking thoughtful. During that time, he, Tsunade and Orochimaru were still teammates. They worked together during those days. The latter Sannin was always weird, but he was his teammate and friend. Those were the good days where he would always try to imitate Orochimaru because the man was a genius, and he was stupid. Funny, he and Naruto were alike that in some ways.

''That much is obvious given your age,'' it felt like Naruto was taking a swipe at his age. But again, Jiraiya ignored it. The blond did not even seem to be interested in seeing how he would react. But the Sannin guessed that he knew that the words played within his head.

''Well, at least my first A-rank mission was as not bad as yours,'' the Sannin stated. Even though they were still young when they did their A-rank mission, theirs was far better than Naruto's.

''You were probably more prepared and trained. I would not imagine that the Sandaime - during those days - would have neglected teaching you. And given the fact that you and Orochimaru still call him sensei, I would say he had trained you well,'' Naruto explained quietly, while the two were still standing in the middle of the bridge.

Jiraiya nodded. ''Sensei always trained us whenever he got the chance, but then again, we grew up in a time of war. It was important that our training was not neglected,'' the Sannin said.

''Whether in war or not, it is the responsibility of a sensei to train his or her students. There is no excuse for neglecting to train your students. Kakashi did that, and almost resulted in our deaths. We were just fortunate that our opponent did not like killing his opponents,'' he would have been killed, well, the fox would not have allowed that. He would have probably done something that ended up with him killing everyone, including his teammates. But the cause would still be the same; Kakashi had not trained them.

Jiraiya eyed Naruto curiously, ''So you hold a grudge against Kakashi for neglecting to train you, huh?''

''What gave you the thought?'' there was certainly some surprise in his tone as he questioned.

''You did say that there was no excuse for a sensei to neglect training his/her students,'' the Sannin explained briefly.

Naruto shook his head. ''I thought you knew me better than that,'' he stated, with some disappointment on his tone. ''I bear no grudges against Kakashi. I just can never see him as a sensei because he was never one to me. While it may be true that no excuse is sufficient for neglecting to train your students, I cannot hold a grudge to Kakashi because he gave one - an excuse.''

Jiraiya nodded and looked up at the heavens. ''Well, the man did mess up.''

''He is not the only one,'' Naruto stated causing Jiraiya to wince at those words. He had messed up more than Kakashi did. ''But it is better when you realize your faults.''

Jiraiya nodded silently.

''You should make our travelling arrangements. I will see you tomorrow morning,'' Naruto stated and disappeared with the wind before Jiraiya could respond.

The Sannin sighed and walked calmly towards the Market place of the Wave country.

**Sometime later (Uchiha Hideout**)

Naruto appeared within the hideout after he had left the Wave country. He had disappeared from the country after visiting the grave sight of Zabuza and Haku. The two shinobi had some impact in his life. There were memories that he would never dream of losing; the memories of the two opponents he faced during his C-rank turned A-rank mission, were one of them. Such memories help in so many ways with the things that life throws at you. But of course, there are memories that one would wish he never had. But that was just wishful thinking. The past cannot be changed, it cannot be re-written, but one can change his or her destiny. That which is of tomorrow cannot always be changed. The choices we make today change our tomorrow; life was that way. It is not always the choice you make yourself, but choices made by others also affect you.

One just had to adapt and accept the past.

His own past is unlikable, but had he not gone through it all, he would not have been here, he had no doubt about that. His childhood experiences shaped him. It is after all what we experience and see that shape the kind of person and attitude one will carry. The environment around us affect and influence the way we think in many ways we like to acknowledge. Despite having a harsh childhood, he was still alive and living happily. There might be some mental scars, but he was alright. He was not lost in darkness; he was living in the light. Perhaps he could thank Itachi for that. But even without Itachi's influence, he would have never walked in darkness. He may carry much darkness and hatred within him - in the form of the Kyuubi - but he did not allow it to influence him.

If Haku had not experienced what he had experienced in the past, he would not have ever met Zabuza, and his life might have been different. But that was just a thought. He was dead now, and there was nothing that could be changed. What could be done was learning from his life and taking the lesson seriously. Haku had gone through an unlikeable childhood as him, but their choices were different, well not so different. Haku chose to be loyal to Zabuza as he had saved him and given him a reason to live. He chose to remain at Konoha and protect that which tormented, and despised him. He knew his home, the sacrifices that had been made. He could not let the sacrifices go to waste.

''Only when you have someone precious can you become stronger,'' Haku had said to him. The ideal was true; when you have someone precious to you can you become strong to protect that which is precious to you. One will always strive hard to achieve power so that he/she can be strong enough to protect those precious to you. But there was a problem with that ideal; when you had no power to protect that which was precious to you, you end up giving your life to protect your loved ones.

Sacrifice

Haku had done the same to protect Zabuza. Because he did not have the power to stop Kakashi from killing him, he used his own body as shield. He protected Zabuza at the cost of his life. Even when dying, he had no regrets, he died smiling because he knew he had protected his master. But that sacrifice was in vain as he man ended up dying also a few minutes later. One could argue that if the former member of the seven great swordsmen had used Haku's death to escape - Kakashi was caught off-guard by it - he would have saved his life instead of dying. Haku gave up his life, he had achieved his dream of protecting his master and that was it.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki all sacrificed their lives for him and for Konoha. Other than protecting Konoha, Minato also had other duties, he had a child to take care off, he had a dream of uniting the world, he had to find the puzzle of peace. But because of his sacrifice, he killed all other dreams to fulfill his greatest duty as the Yondaime Hokage, ensuring that Konoha was safe even at the cost of his life. He had no doubt that his father would do the same if the situation were to repeat itself. The man might not have achieved any of his other dreams, or fulfilled some of his duties, but he also had no regrets, he died smiling knowing that he had ensured that Konoha was safe. Minato had sealed the Kyuubi in him thinking of the future. He was not only thinking of the present. But even with his death, his legacy still lives on.

His mother also died for the safety of Konoha but more importantly, him.

All these people had one thing in common that resulted in their deaths; they lacked power, yet they had precious people. The drive to protect your precious people leads to death. One could say Minato had no choice but to sacrifice himself to deal with the Kyuubi since it is impossible to kill the Bijuu. But that was not it, would have Hashirama sacrificed himself to deal with the Kyuubi? No, he would have subdued the Bijuu with his Mokuton. The same can be said for Madara, he would have fought to subdue the Bijuu. One could say that they had special abillties the former with his Mokuton and the latter with his powerful Sharingan. But that was not the case; didn't the Sandaime Raikage fight Gyuuki to a draw without any special ability? Who could say that one cannot develop his own jutsu to deal with any threat?

The problem was that this generation had become very weak compared to the previous generation. The shinobi who lived in the beginning of the shinobi world were very strong. None of these Shinobi of these days can even hold a candle to those men. Had his father and mother had the necessary power to defeat their threats, they would not have sacrificed themselves. Weakness brings about much about the need to sacrifice one's life.

Naruto wanted to avoid that circle, he did not want to end up dying before all his dreams could be fulfilled all because he lacked power. The possibilities were limitless of how one could be strong for him, even though he did not have a bloodline. He was a seal master; with fuinjutsu, he could do so many things. His mother's clan had become feared because of Fuinjutsu. The art of sealing held so many possibilities. He was also a Jinchuriki and a master of the Wind element. Could he not rise above everything else? He had a long way to go, but it was all possible for him to become far stronger than he is now. Before that, he would refuse to die. He would refuse and avoid all situations that might bring him to sacrifice his life.

He could not die before uniting the world.

Overall, the life Haku had lived added with the sacrifices his parents made, has led him to believe that with enough power, he could avoid the circle of sacrifices. Each life was valuable; there was no life that could be thrown away. Any other death was unacceptable; he would not die a meaningless death. But life was unpredictable, just when you think you would not die, death just shows up and grins at you. His life was full of many things; it was itself a proof that life was unpredictable and did not go the way you always want it to go. It was almost like there were some supernatural beings that were screwing with everything. It was like they waited till you seemed like you would make it and then bring in something that would make sure you fail.

If there were such beings, they were probably planning his end already.

Shaking his head, Naruto walked outside the house as no one was inside; he did not feel any chakra signatures from inside, but outside, hence he was walking outside. He walked slowly towards ''his'' small training ground with a calm look on his face. He was sensing two chakra signatures; they did not seem to be hiding themselves. But he was not worried about anything. He could definitely feel the presence of Itachi Uchiha. There was another presence he was not familiar with. Once he arrived at the scene, he merely raised a brow - but otherwise stayed calm - at seeing Itachi's old teammate in the Akatsuki.

He looked straight at Itachi, ''I see you have brought your friend here,'' he stated as he walked towards the two who were sitting on the ground under a tree. He did not sit down with them though; he jumped unto the tree and sat there.

Kisame raised a curious eye brow after seeing the look on Naruto's face and the hearing the tone of his voice. He looked at Itachi before shaking his head. ''Not another one,'' he breathed out silently. Itachi was the silent type and was always impassive. It seemed that he had passed that unto the blond. Still, he was surprised that Naruto did not even think of attempt to attack him, given their last encounter. ''I am surprised that you can be so calm around me,'' he said looking at the blond. He did not even seem to be keeping an eye on him, as if he was not concerned about anything.

Naruto merely shrugged, but Itachi responded. ''Don't be fooled Kisame, he may not look like it, but he-'' the shark man cut off the Uchiha while he was still talking. He did not want to be at the receiving end of one of Itachi's lectures. He was in no mood for them.

''His senses are sharp, and he is watching me even though he does not look like it,'' the former Akatsuki man stated, finishing what Itachi might have been trying to say. He may not have put it accurately, but he was sure it was somewhere along those lines.

''I did not think you were still contact with your former comrade,'' Naruto stated, his tone did not seem to be suggesting something; he was merely stating his thoughts.

''I never lost contact with him,'' Itachi responded flatly, not even bothering to look up at the blond.

Naruto seemed to release a sigh, ''Well I guess I should have known that, you have been with him as your partner even since he joined the Akatsuki. Despite your attitude, I am positive you two must have developed some sort of friendship,'' it was all said in an emotionless tone, mimicking Itachi. It was like the blond did not even care about what he was saying, as if it meant nothing to him. He was not questioning it either.

Before Itachi could respond, Kisame spoke, ''Itachi you have turned him to another you,'' the blue man stated while smiling. There was no one who could deny that. Naruto was like Itachi when they were together. Their way of speaking and their expressions were not every different. ''But I must say; I am impressed. I never thought that loud gaki who thought he could take me on a few years ago could turn out this way,'' the man stated while grinning.

Naruto looked at Kisame at the bottom of his eyes, he said nothing though. The last time he had encountered Kisame, was when he was looking for Tsunade with Jiraiya. During that time, they wanted to bring her back to Konoha so that she could be the Godaime Hokage. Trying to convince her had been a bothersome task, but they managed to do it. Before they even met up with her, these two showed up. He had been alone at that time, Jiraiya was out somewhere. Of course, he had tried to fight two S-rank criminals without even thinking about it. When he had accessed the Kyuubi's chakra, Kisame had swung his sword towards him and sucked up his chakra. He remembered the event, the sword had seemed to vibrate in bliss at the taste of the Fox's chakra.

Kisame saw Naruto's eye looking at Samehada, he grinned. ''You remembered what he did last time,'' the man stated. ''But I doubt that you will do something that stupid like that again. If what Itachi has told me is true, that is. One thing is for sure, you have tons of chakra, not counting the Kyuubi's, Samehada is excited about it.''

Naruto felt where this was gone go if that man continued to talk like that. Kisame loved a good fight more than anything. He would not waste a chance to fight for anything. But he had not come here for that. ''I had forgotten that you are a man who enjoys tearing things and being teared. What an unhealthy obsession to have,'' it was known to him that even when the man was losing, he still enjoyed a fight. He did not care if his life was at risk or not, as long as he enjoyed himself. Naruto then looked down at the Uchiha bellow him, ''Well then, Itachi...''

Itachi understood what Naruto was saying. ''Kisame here is going to give you a hand, but like me, he will do it in the shadows. He knows what you want to achieve, but accepts it as long as he gets a chance to have some good fights,'' that was the entire truth. Kisame had no love of peace, he only wanted to battle.

Naruto was silent for a moment as he thought of things. If Itachi had talked to him, it means that he trusts him; he could live with that. He had no doubt that Kisame's strength could be needed just as Itachi's power was valuable. He could use all the power he could get his hands on. But he was not just about to work with evil people just because they had power. Kisame was Itachi's partner, he knew him better than he did. All he knew about the missing-nin was from the village hidden in Mist. ''I see,'' he said. ''He only wants a challenge given that Akatsuki is no longer there to put him in situations where he can get good fights. Another choice would be to just walk around causing trouble to attract strong opponents, but that would be too bothersome as it would attract even weak opponents. There also won't be time to rest as opponents would keep coming like flies to the point where it will be annoying,'' the blond explained before looking back at Kisame for a moment.

''That was spot on gaki,'' Kisame commented on Naruto's explanation.

''Would you like to return to Kirigakure?'' Naruto asked, he had ignored the missing-nin's comment and chose to get on what matters.

The question caught Kisame off-guard, but after getting over his shock, he merely laughed. ''Why would I want to return to that village?''

Naruto looked back at Itachi. ''It was merely a curious question. And I wanted to see your reaction to the question,'' he paused for a moment. ''I cannot stay here for too long. I left Jiraiya at the Wave country. Despite the fact that he will be moving to do to his business, he will also try to look for me,'' the blond stated.

Itachi nodded. ''How have you come so far?''

''I have laid the foundations in Kumogakure. I should return there after some time to start building. I was only able to befriend Yugito during my time there, but I was unable to locate Killer Bee anywhere in the village. I looked almost everywhere, but could not find him,'' he shook his head. He had looked for the Jinchuriki using his henged shadow clones while he kept busy with Yugito. ''But it does no matter; I should see him next time I play with the Raikage.''

''You were fruitful in your first trip,'' Itachi noted. ''Well that is to be expected,'' he did wonder how the blond was able to get it done. It did not matter anyway; he was going to find out sooner or later.

''It was not that difficult. A man such as the Raikage is predictable,'' Naruto stated.

''If I did not know any better, I would say you were plotting some manipulative scheme,'' Kisame commented, but unfortunately, he was ignored.

''You did not just befriend Yugito for your own agenda, I hope,'' Itachi stated calmly. Once one started to use people, it could influence your choices and you may end up doing it without even realizing it. He did not want Naruto to go that path and make rookie mistakes.

''What do you think of me?'' he did not even sound hurt by the question. But he was a little amused by it. Of course, he was not some manipulative shinobi. Yugito was a Jinchuriki like him. Despite her being useful, he had always wanted to befriend all those that were like him. They shared the same pain and carried the same burden in different scales. He would never use someone like that, especially a sweet woman like Yugito.

''I was merely making sure, you tend to be unpredictable sometimes,'' Itachi responded calmly, without any emotion.

''That may be true,'' Naruto admitted. ''The manipulative path only leads to a dark road ahead. That path will only reward one with pain and bitterness. It may prove fun at the beginning when you are playing with other people's emotions and lives, but there will be day...''

Itachi nodded, ''When will you return so that we may visit Konan?''

''I have to visit Kirigakure first. I don't know how long I might take there. Jiraiya has often told me that the Mizukage is a desirable woman, so we spend some time there,'' he also had his own foundations to lay in the village. ''But after everything, I will leave Jiraiya alone when we decide to return to Konoha,'' he did not say anything more, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

''You have raised an impressive kid Itachi. He may surpass you one day,'' Kisame commented.

''He was always like that,'' Itachi stated. ''I just helped bring up the real him that he was suppressing with his need for attention. He maybe have already surpassed me; we have never fought in an all out battle,'' he had never used his **Susano'o **while fighting the blond. At the same time, Naruto has never used his Sage mode. He knew the capabilities of his Susano'o. But he also knew the destructive power of Sage mode. Naruto was also faster than him in pure speed. What more could he do when going all out?

''Aren't you exaggerating a bit Itachi? I mean he is just a brat.''

Itachi shook his head. ''You will see with your own eyes soon enough,'' the Uchiha stated looking at his friend.

**Otogakure**

''Kukukukukukukukukuku kukukukukukukukukuk kukukukuku,'' it was all that could be heard throught one of the hideouts in Otogakure. The laughter was so evil, filled with such malice that everyone who heard it started to fear for their lives. The laughter sent shivers down everyone's spine. Orochimaru was laughing in a very evil way that did not comfort anyone. But even if you did run, the sound of the voice would surely hunt you wherever you ran to. There was also a great possibility that the man himself would hunt you down to kill you. The snake Sannin could do that. There was probably nothing that could hide from him. It was not that the walls of the hideout had never been tormented with such malicious laughter before, they had, but this laughter was reaching new bounds. Orochimaru had never laughed so hard.

The laughter unnerved even Kabuto who had seen his master do all sorts of things. He took a single step back, unconsciously when the snake Sannin started creeping the atmosphere with the laughter. If it was possible, the air they were breathing, would have runaway too because of the laughter. He knew that his master was capable of many things. Orochimaru's power alone was not why he was loyal to him. But the man was also evil to the core. He was far more used to scenes like these more than anyone else, but this was also at another level. Well, he was sure that out of everyone within the hideout, he was faring better. He was not that scared, he was just unnerved a bit.

Orochimaru finally stopped laughing, but still maintained the sickest grin Kabuto had ever seen from the man. Well he did have all the reasons to be happy. He had achieved the greatest master piece. He had never created something of this nature before, something so perfect. ''Kabuto, this is magnificent, isn't it?'' the snake Sannin questioned while grinning madly.

''Hai, Orochimaru-sama. This is far the greatest thing you have created,'' Kabuto responded looking in front him. There was a man; he was at the same height as Orochimaru and his skin was fair. He had short spiky black hair. He wore black jeans, black shinobi boots and a black cloak that reached about his ankles. He also wore black fingerless gloves. One would just say he was just a normal beautiful shinobi; he did not even look masculine. But, he, Kabuto knew better than that. This was a weapon, by Orochimaru. It started as a human, but it longer was a human, not after all that Orochimaru had done to the body.

Orochimaru did not feel insulted with Kabuto's words. It was indeed that true that this was by far the greatest invention he had created. He could not deny that. All his previous creations could not be compared to this. This being was at another level. ''This thing should be the strongest being in the shinobi world. I have to admit that even I cannot compare to its strength given my current condition,'' well not unless he puts his body under what he has put through this one. He could be superior to this weapon. Yes, he would surely do that. It would never satisfy him to create a minion that was stronger than him. His current body was also weakened severely, but that did not mean that he was by any means weak.

''This creation is majestic, no doubt about that,'' Kabuto stated his he pushed his round glasses, ''but are you still going to give it to Danzou? It would be dangerous giving him something like this. You did say that you were not expecting it to become this powerful.''

''That fool would cause a war to arise in just a few days after I have given it to him. Having something as this powerful, would cause him to become even more greedy than he is,'' Orochimaru stated with a snort. He lost his grin for a moment before it appeared in full force again.

''So you are not going to give it to him?'' Kabuto questioned curiously. He knew that his master would never lose the chance to have his hands on something this powerful, especially if it was his greatest creation. Danzou would surely use the weapon against Orochimaru also once he finds how powerful it really is. There was no trust between the two men, Kabuto knew that.

''What do you think? If I do give him I know that in a few days, Konoha will be caught up in a civil war with Danzou forcing his weapon to destroy anyone who denies him the opportunity to rule Konoha. Once he achieves his dream of Hokage, he will move on to other villages,'' certainly, the man would do it that way. Even he would not be safe from the man's path. He would destroy anything that he deemed dangerous and a threat. He knew that when he left Konoha, the man wanted him to be killed so that he does not run loose in the world. Anyone who was powerful was a threat to the old war hawk. Given the means to rid of all threats, he would certainly not waste any time in ensuring that the world was plagued into another war. It would not be fun since it would not be he who started it.

He did not fear Danzou the least, but he knew what the old war hawk was capable of doing. Still, that did not make him fear that fool. Danzou's right arm was his creation. The right hand was the man's greatest weapon and source of escaping death meant that the man was his creation.

''But if you don't give him the weapon, you won't get the Sharingan,'' Kabuto pointed out a fact. The fact that Orochimaru had even spent much time creating this weapon was because he had been promised the Sharingan.

''I could give the weapon to Danzou and have him reward me in turn,'' Orochimaru stated. ''But that fool will betray me after getting the weapon. It is not that he and his pets can actually succeed in killing me despite my current state.''

Kabuto nodded. ''If you can escape with your life, you can hand over the weapon. But the issue is that you don't want to give it to him. Did you not make it so that you could activate your own control over it even when Danzou is controlling it?''

''I did,'' Orochimaru replied shortly. He would never make a mistake of forgetting to do something like that. ''But Danzou knows that I would do something like that. So the moment I leave him alone with it, he will try to find my ways of controlling ''his'' weapon. And he would probably succeed,'' the man was crafty and had many ways of making things go his way. He had worked with him for a long time during his time at Konoha. But that did not mean that he could outsmart him. He just knew the risks when dealing with Danzou.

Kabuto was thoughtful for a moment. ''You could use the weapon to force Danzou to give you the Sharingan,'' he stated with a grin of his own. The weapon was powerful enough to deal with Danzou's ANBU. He could also land a hand in the confrontation. There was also a clone of the weapon that Orochimaru had created, it was mindless though.

''Danzou would ensure that he dies with the Sharingan if I do something like that,'' Orochimaru said frowning slightly. The man was suicidal. He had no doubt that he would have set up things to ensure that everything else went along with him if he died. It was the same with his left eye. It would prove useless if Danzou died along with his prized need. He needed the Sharingan no matter what. He would not stop until he finally got his hands on it.

''That would be problematic,'' Kabuto noted. But knowing his master, he must have had something planned out. ''What do you have planned, Orochimaru-sama?''

Orochimaru grinned widely. ''I will get my hands on the Sharingan and then I will give Danzou the weapon. I will have no use of it after I get the Sharingan. I can allow Danzou to play all he wants with the weapon, but the Sharingan will make me reach my goals without having to worry about the old war hawk.''

''How will you do that?''

''Each time I went to see Danzou; I always looked around for where he could have placed the Sharingan. I do know the ROOT HQ inside out, but the man has changed some things, but over the past two years, I have narrowed every place he could have placed the Sharingan. I am left with a single room, which is deep in the ROOT HQ, but I can get there,'' Orochimaru stated, ''it will just be a little bothersome.''

''When will we get it?''

Orochimaru grinned, ''Tomorrow night,'' he responded before laughing again. ''Now let us welcome my pet to the world,'' he stated going through some handsels. After which he held his hands together, holding a snake seal.

The weapon then opened his eyes. They were pure black. It was somewhat creeping looking at them, Orochimaru would agree to that. The weapon looked at the snake Sannin for a moment while being motionless. The Sannin merely smiled as he watched his pet, ''Controlling this thing is a little harder than I thought,'' he admitted to Kabuto.

''I had thought it would be easy given all the research you went through on perfect control of a subject and the fact that your cursed seal is within its body,'' Kabuto responded clearly surprised but nonetheless calm just as his master was.

''I had thought so too. But the thing has a mind of its own and it is not driven by instict, and its chakra is denser than mine. It makes controlling it a bit hard, but not impossible,'' the snake Sannin stated. It would be unacceptable if he could not control his own creation. This was also something he could not use fear or manipulation to be loyal to him. Controlling it this way was the only way.

Kabuto looked at his master; he really seemed to be struggling. But that could be faulted on his current state. He should not be doing something like this, but rather, he should be in bed sleeping.

The weapon then released some explosives chakra that weighed down even Orochimaru. The pressure of the chakra caused the ground to shatter where he was standing and also caused multiple cracks around the walls. It did not look to be bothered by it, nor did it seem to have released much chakra. This worried Orochimaru because he had not instructed it to do it. His control over the weapon was slipping away little by little. He could not have that. He increased his own chakra to gain more control over the weapon. Doing that caused negative effects on his body.

Kabuto was quick to notice it, as he very perceptive to his master, ''Orochimaru-sama, you should not do that,'' he stated, not wanting his master to give pressure to his body and stress it. It would not be good for his health.

''Be quiet, Kabuto. I am trying to concentrate here,'' the snake Sannin stated as the weapon began to walk towards him. Orochimaru grinned even wider as it was doing exactly what he wanted. The weapon the stopped in front of him, suddenly, and held out its right hand.

''Orochimaru,'' he stated in a calm tone that did not even sound demonic as his eyes.

''Shit,'' Orochimaru cursed realizing that the weapon was far beyond his control in his current state. He was no longer in control of it.

''What is wrong Orochimaru-sama?''

Kabuto got the answer when in an instant; the right hand of the weapon formed and released a beam of dark energy that hit the snake Sannin dead on. Orochimaru was too close to the blast that he could not effectively dodge it. The blast released by the weapon sped towards the wall and hit it before drilling right through it. The blast created a large hole on the wall and its footsteps could be clearly seen on the floor. The weapon did not even give another look; it merely disappeared within a cloud of darkness.

''Orochimaru-sama?!'' Kabuto called as he rushed towards his master...or what was left of him. The jutsu was the one that hurt Naruto, but this one was a lot stronger. And so it took out Orochimaru and nearly killed him. His body from waist downwards was missing so was his right shoulder.

''I-I can s-survive this,'' the snake Sannin hissed. The blast was not enough to kill him, but it was enough to render him immobile. He really should have not used his lab rats for creating something like this.

It was one of those times for Kabuto when he saw that his master would die if something was not done. The current state was pitiful. Orochimaru was far stronger than this, but a single blast and he was reduced to this. It was these times that he thought of just finishing him for his own good. He could not bear to watch his master suffering like this. Many could be in this kind of condition, but his master should not. It was unacceptable to see a strong man like Orochimaru reduced to this.

''W-what are you t-thinking Kabuto?'' Orochimaru questioned seeing the look on Kabuto's face. The subordinate of his then became expressionless before moving his hands towards his face. ''W-what are you doing K-kabu...Ahhhhhhhhh!''

**Muhahahahahahahahha. Yap that was a good end to the chapter. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 Prince charming**

The ship they had boarded was steadily making way towards Kirigakure, it would take some time to get there, but within the next day, they would have reached the Village Hidden in Mist. It really had been some time since he visited the village. He had only gone there once when he heard that the civil war had ended, but now he was returning to the village again. This time he would stay for a few days. Last time he never got the chance to enjoy his time since officially, he was not there. He had been there while hiding his presence. But he had taken a good look at the Mizukage - she was beautiful, a desirable woman. He could not mind staring at her majestic beauty for some time. Well, no one came close to his princess though. His princess was by far the most beautiful woman in the world.

But anyway, it would really be more pleasant if he could also get his hands on her, like doing what he pleased with her. Doing something like that would surely give him some great material for his next installment. He would have most liked to do one based on Naruto, but the said blond did not mean to be interested in women. He had thought that something would happen with Yugito, but nothing occurred. He was sure that the blond was not oblivious to certain things. He was a man and should feel what he feels too. Although, the blond may be a bit inexperienced in this matter, he was not oblivious. He was his godfather after all.

Looking at the blond; he seemed to be enjoying the calm waters of the sea. He also seemed to be at peace, but there was no smile on his face. It was really annoying that he only smiled given some situations. Jiraiya walked towards the blond, with a scroll on his hand. ''Naruto,'' he called trying to get the blond to acknowledge his presence.

''What is it?'' Naruto responded without taking his eyes off the calm sea. There were some parts water that were not so calm; it was mostly places where there were heavy winds. But around where they were at this moment, there went any misbehaving waves.

''I need you to go to Konoha and give this to Tsu-hime,'' Jiraiya said handing Naruto the scroll. But the blond did not take it, he just turned around to face the Sannin.

''Knowing that you have a contract with the Toads, I would assume that you use them as messengers to send messages to Tsunade,'' Naruto stated looking straight at the Sannin.

''That is how I normally do it. But I want you to do it this time. The Toads are not really suited for transporting messages since they are not that fast which is why I am requesting that you do it. With the Flying Thunder God technique, you can reach Konoha within seconds,'' Jiraiya explained neutrally not wanting to give away anything.

''I can summon something that will be faster than the Toads,'' Naruto stated.

''Summon something?''

''Yes, I have another summoning contract,'' Naruto stated without going into further details. His response surprised Jiraiya greatly.

''Two contracts? The Toads allowed you to have another contract? What type of summons do you summon?''

''They allowed me since that it is not that of a major contract,'' Naruto responded calmly going back to staring at the sea. ''What the contract is, is for another day.''

''Where did you get it?'' Jiraiya questioned in a curious tone. He could not think of any other contract Naruto would sign. They were not many of them these days, so he was curious. It was also rare to find one with two contracts.

''Wouldn't you like to know that...''

Jiraiya knew he was not going to get answers, and it would be pointless to try to get them. ''Still, a summon would take more time than you would. I want hime to read this report today.''

''That is almost believable,'' Naruto stated surprising Jiraiya. ''But that is not your reason. The toads would get to Konoha today. You just want me to head to Konoha so Tsunade could see me. You have been keeping contact with her over the past two weeks, she misses me and you are sending me there to let her see that I am alright.''

Jiraiya sighed, there was no way he was going to deny that it was his motive. ''So will you go?''

''No.''

''...''

That was unexpected. Jiraiya never thought that Naruto would refuse to see Tsunade after knowing that she was worried about him. He did not think the blond would say no just like that without even thinking about it. But he said it. ''Excuse me?''

''I said no.''

''Why?'' there was no reason he could think off, especially when Naruto knew how much Tsunade cared for him. He was positive that the blond was aware of how much the Hokage cared for him. But for him to refuse to appease her heart was shocking. He would have expected the blond to return home and make the Godaime smile, but he was not going to do so.

''I have only been gone for about two weeks. And I am not alone, but with you. If Tsunade can't stop worrying about my safety even when I am with you then she has to be made to understand that she cannot always see me and I can take care of myself. Don't you think that I might find myself taking missions that would even take a month to complete? Do you think that each week during the mission I have to be returning to Konoha to put a smile of Tsunade's face?'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''She has to understand that I am not a child; I am no longer a genin. But I am a jounin of Konoha. My duty is to serve the village and protect it. However, Tsunade does not seem to be happy when I do my duty. She wants me to stay around inside in Konoha. If there are dangerous missions, she won't let me go, but will send someone else.

Tell me Jiraiya, is that fair? Is it fair that she can let other shinobi go to dangerous missions while I who is powerful enough to handle them stay at home sheltered. Could you say that she would rather have other shinobi die instead of I? Family or not, I am her subordinate, a shinobi of Konoha, she will have to treat me equally as the other shinobi. So I refuse to return to Konoha until this little journey is over.''

Jiraiya could see that Naruto's argument held some merit. He could not deny that, and so he was quiet for some time.

''It is not that I like to see Tsunade hurting. But she has to understand that I am a shinobi and my life will always be in threat. She has to understand that I may disappear for some time. If she cannot handle that, how can she lead Konoha efficiently without attaching her emotions into the choices she makes?'' Naruto looked up the heavens before walking past Jiraiya. ''I am going to my cabin.'' he stated as he walked away from the Sannin, leaving him in much thought.

It was indeed true that Tsunade worried too much for Naruto. But he could understand her given what she has lost. She has lost all her loved ones - who died for the sake of Konoha. The deaths of those she loved did a number on her. That had been why she had decided to abandon Konoha. But Naruto also had lost his parents. He may have never met them or experience what it felt like to have parents, or experienced their deaths, it does not change the fact that he lost them. They too died protecting him and Konoha. He could have chosen to stay within Konoha and preserve the life his parents had died protecting. Jiraiya now understood that Naruto knew that death was part of the world they lived in. He understood that one could die for Konoha.

Tsunade would surely not want something like that to happen. She would probably quit being Hokage if Naruto was killed. The blond had been the reason she returned to Kohagakure no Sato. If that reason was to disappear, she would also disappear unless it takes some much convincing to do. What was obvious was that Tsunade would not want anything to happen to Naruto until she stepped down as Hokage. When she steps down, she would surely be happy to allow Naruto to live his dream - being Hokage. He was a bit curious though, the blond has not been saying he wants to be Hokage like the old days. He did not want to think that his godson no longer wanted to be the Hokage. If Naruto chose to abandon that dream, who would be Hokage after Tsunade?

Still, after everything he has seen, he could clearly say that Naruto does not need much protection. The blond was capable of taking care of himself. He was also not arrogant to get into a situation where he could not win. Naruto also has the **Flying Thunder God** **Technique, **he could escape if the situation was not favorable. He had no doubt that the blond could take care of himself, but still, everyone was human. There is always someone who is stronger than you. He did not think that he could defeat anyone. But such a thing was not what he expected or hoped for. He was always hoping to win for his survival and the safety of Konoha.

**Otogakure**

Orochimaru's vision was a little blurry as he woke up. He shook his head trying to shake off the blurry vision. He had actually thought that Kabuto was going to kill him, but that was not to be. He rose up from his bed and realized that he was in his room. His head actually felt light, and he felt good. The doors to his room opened and Kabuto walked inside holding a tray.

''You are awake,'' Kabuto stated, not sounding surprised. He placed the tray on a table and took out two tablets and a glass of water. He then walked over to Orochimaru, ''Drink this,'' he said handing over what he held to the snake Sannin.

Orochimaru downed the tablets bitterly and looked at Kabuto, ''I thought you were going to betray me,'' he did not hide his thoughts. He had always known that Kabuto was loyal, but when the weapon had left him looking as though he was dead, he had thought his subordinate had seen that he was weak and decided to take his life.

Kabuto merely smiled at his master. ''I had no such thoughts. Normally I would have told you what I was going to do. But given your condition, I felt you were not in the right mind to make a decision. So for your own good, I made a decision for you,'' he explained lightly.

''For my own good?'' Orochimaru laughed. He laughed really hard till his stomach hurt. Kabuto had taken him out cold for his own good? When did he start thinking like that? ''How long have I been out?''

''A few days,'' Kabuto responded pushing his glasses on his nose bridge.

''Did I miss anything?'' In the Shinobi world, anything can happen. Two days was a lot of time and a major village could be conquered within two days. Given a man of his status, he could not afford to miss anything.

''Nothing much has happened,'' Kabuto replied. With his master out cold, he had to take charge of everything in Oto. It was not like he had not done that before. He knew everything Orochimaru knew. So it was easy for him to run things.

''...and?'' He did not have to say it, Kabuto knew what answers he needed.

''I don't know what happened exactly. But it would appear that the weapon, no rather, that man is a lot stronger than we had thought. He fought off your control and took over. He probably cannot be controlled like you had planned. But I do believe that with the data I gathered, we may have created a monster that will only seek destruction,'' even saying those words, Kabuto did not seem concerned at all. He did not care for what happened to the world. As long as he could do experiments, and explore the world, he was fine.

''We may have,'' Orochimaru admitted then grinned. ''But it makes things interesting does it not?''

Kabuto nodded. ''The world would have been boring without another ''villain''. With the Akatsuki gone, villages would have spent much of their power trying to get rid of us.''

''It would be difficult to move around with them searching for you everywhere,'' Orochimaru then paused for a moment. ''What did you do to my body? It feels light and powerful,'' the snake Sannin said stretching out his hands.

Kabuto smiled proudly. ''I made use of that 'clone' and some data we have been gathering. Your body has now been made strong and you will no longer need to change hosts - this is the results of another experiment I have been running ever since we failed to get Sasuke-kun. But our work with the weapon gave me a breakthrough.''

''Can I still change hosts?''

''Yes. But this body you have now is almost indestructible,'' Kabuto said earning a wide grin from Orochimaru. ''While you were recovering, I managed to get to Konoha and retrieve your prize from Root bases. I was not able to get away without being found. I barely made it out alive. It was thanks to that escape jutsu you taught me that I was able to get away with my life. The next time you see Danzou, he will probably attempt to kill you.''

Orochimaru grinned in all corners. ''Kukukuku kukukukuku kukukukuku,'' his devilish laughter echoed through ought the corners of his hideout. Kabuto merely stood there watching his master behind his glasses with a slight proud smile.

**A day later**

''Naruto!'' Jiraiya called rather loudly from the door of the blond's cabin. They had touched down in land; he was calling the blond who seemed not to have noticed that the ship had stopped sailing. They had to leave before the ship sets to sea again and return to the shores of the Wave country.

The small door opened and Naruto walked out of the door. He looked at the Sannin straight into his eyes. ''You are rather loud sometime, godfather. It still morning, and you are already shouting my name while hitting my door like a madman.''

''I would never have had to do that if you had just woken up when I knocked the door at first,'' Jiraiya retorted turning away from his moody godson. The toad sage sighed. ''Come on; let's go before the captain gives us crap.'' With that the two started to leave. They left the ship slowly and touched down on land. It was quite empty like no one even comes here.

''Why is it empty?'' Naruto questioned as he and Jiraiya went their way towards the village hidden in mist. It was a curious question for him to ask. He would have expected the place to have some people since ships dock there, unless there was another place where they docked.

''This place is not safe - the captain told me so. People don't normally use this route. That is why it is empty. Only a few shinobi use this route when they do their businesses. The safe harbor towards is Kiri is in the north of the island, but we had to use this way to enter undetected,'' Jiraiya replied. Naruto was stealthy enough to move with him when they do enter the village. He did not believe that his godson would get him caught. But it was obvious that once in the village, they would be spotted.

''Why are we sneaking in?'' Naruto questioned with a raised brow. He did not get why they had to sneak in if the man was going to be caught in the village's hot springs peeping on women. He also knew that they would not be denied entry if they used the gate, unless Jiraiya had another motive.

''A force of habit,'' the Sannin responded with a shrug.

''You have another purpose for this,'' Naruto said looking the mist that was ahead. The place was a good one for ambush. But he was not very much worried about that. ''This will force the Mizukage into seeing you quickly once her ANBU discovers you. Given that the kage of this village is a she, it is likely that you have done something that forced her into taking some measures against you.''

''Now that you say it. There was an incident when I came here. Let us just say, she was not very much happy with me, she almost killed me had I not runaway,'' Jiraiya replied grinning sheepishly. All this time, he did not look into Naruto. He was busy looking ahead of the road.

Naruto shook his head at Jiraiya's response. There was no limit to this man's perverseness. They walked for a few minutes within the mist. But neither were worried about anything. But that did not mean that they were not in alert. No it was anything but that. They were keeping check of their surroundings. It would be foolish to think that you are powerful enough to handle anything. That belief only led to arrogance. And arrogance for a shinobi was dangerous as it has gotten many killed. But even so, only those foolish were willing to attack a Sannin. When people realized that Jiraiya was a Sannin, they quickly ran away in fear or apologize if they had done something against him.

When they had left the mist and could see the lively village of Kirigakure, Jiraiya stopped walking and looked at Naruto. ''Naruto, stay here for a few minutes. I am going to meet someone. Make sure you don't move around and hide our presence. There are probably ANBU around this mountain.'' With that the Sannin disappeared as if he had not been there.

Naruto sighed and locked himself on top of a rock keeping his senses on high alert. Jiraiya was probably going to meet with his spy. It would be dangerous to meet inside the village as there was a possibility of being seen. Doing things outside was a good choice. It also provided a good escape chance should one be caught. It was a good move on the Sannin. But on other villages, he was sure the Sannin did things differently. Like in Kumogakure, he had met his spy inside the village. Perhaps it was because he was used to the village and was that it was large. There were many sports to do business.

A few minutes turned into more than two hours.

Finally the elder Toad Sage returned, looking a bit disappointed. ''Sorry, it took me much time to come back here. I ran into some trouble with my contact. It would seem that we have to leave the village.''

''Why?'' Naruto asked curiously, forgetting that the Sannin had made him wait for two hours after saying he would return in a few minutes.

''I have received some disturbing news that I have to check. We will no longer enter Kirigakure. But you cab if you want to. You will just be alone without me,'' The Sannin suggested looking straight at the blond in front of him.

Naruto seemed to think about it for a few moments. He would someday return to this village, alone. He knew nothing of the Mizukage, but Jiraiya could offer him some Intel about her. He would ask about it sometime later after he had dealt with some issues. It would have been better if the Sannin was there, but since he would be alone and was not fully prepared, it was best to come back at a later date. He had planned on asking the Sannin about the woman after they had entered the village. His question would only seem to be a curious one. That was all he needed Jiraiya to think for now. The Sannin would certainly know of his quest for peace, but right now, he had not gathered all the details he needs.

''I will see Kiri some other time,'' Naruto finally responded in a calm tone.

Jiraiya nodded, ''Come on, let's go. We will have to take a ship on the other side of the island. I will drop you off in the Wave country, and make my way to handle my business. You will return to Konoha.''

''Mmm,'' Naruto thought of something for a moment. ''No, you will search for a ship. I can teleport away from here. While we were travelling, I marked a few hidden places. I can just teleport there without much trouble.''

''That is good. This will save us some time and energy. I never really do like the sea anyway,'' Jiraiya said smiling. If Naruto could teleport them to the Fire country, it would make their journey quick. That said, the blond could also teleport back to Konoha. It really was good to have a space time jutsu.

''You misunderstand me, Godfather,'' Naruto said calmly. He took out a three-pronged Kunai and handed it to the Sannin. ''Keep it safe and use it when there is something of utmost importance,'' he paused for a moment. ''As I was saying; you misunderstood me. I never said 'we', I said I would teleport and you will take a ship.''

''What? Why?''

''I just don't feel like giving you a lift,'' Naruto responded so casually like he was not planning of leaving his godfather to fend for himself. It would take some time for the Sannin to reach the Wave country, by that time, he would be busy with other things, after that, he would be able to return to Konoha.

''You can't be serious Naruto!''

Naruto merely gave the Sannin a small smile. ''I will see you in Konoha,'' with that, he was gone in a flash of yellow, leaving a shocked Jiraiya.

''He actually left me...'' Jiraiya mumbled in disbelieve. Was this some sort of punishment the blond was giving him? He could not think of it another way, it had to be. Otherwise, who in their right mind would leave their godfather stranded in an island far away from home? Well, he was not exactly stranded, but that was not the point.

**Uchiha hideout**

Naruto did not teleport to any of the places he had marked while travelling with Jiraiya. He teleported to the hideout so that Itachi could take him to Konan. He would rather come here to get things done with Konan than to waste more doing something that was not useful. He certainly had much in his mind. The things he had been doing over the past weeks were actually catching up to him. The burden of killing was starting to weigh up on him. But he held himself well. Jiraiya had not even noticed that something was eating him from inside. Perhaps if he found some time to relax after meeting with Konan, he would be able to settle his thoughts.

Keeping things bottled up was not any good. He had thought he would be an exception. After all his training with Itachi, he had thought he could kill without it weighing up on him as much as it was. He held himself well while killing, he never hesitated, but when he was alone, it all came back to him. Perhaps he was not ready for this. Naruto shook his head clearing that train of thought. He was prepared for this. There was nothing that could prepare him for experiencing what he has experienced.

Perhaps, his heart was just too kind than he led others to believe. Perhaps the impassiveness was just a mask to hide himself while he prepares for his plans to take motion. He knew things like these would come, but he had not thought it would be so hard. He was still fresh to this thing. He was not a cold hearted person who could kill people without regrets. Shaking his head again, Naruto allowed his stoic expression to return after he had allowed it to slip. He walked outside the hideout and went towards the training ground. He sensed that Itachi and his friend were inside, but he needed to calm himself before speaking to either of them.

Unfortunately, he was not given that comfort as Itachi made his way towards the training ground with Kisame right beside him. Naruto did not immediately turn around to face them. Itachi though, was quick to note the behavior as nod. First of all, the blond would never come to the hideout and then move over here without saying a word when he was present. It only led him to believe that there was something wrong with the blond. Naruto did turn around to face the two, but Itachi confirmed his suspicions, the blond was troubled. He could clearly see it from his eyes.

''Hey gaki, Itachi tells me you are just good as him in a fight. Why don't we give that a test? I have not had a good fight in some times,'' Kisame stated showing Naruto a large grin. He wanted to see if Itachi had been right about the blond. He would never believe it unless they battled together.

''Perhaps some other time,'' Naruto responded quietly. His tone sounded indifferent. And his response only made Kisame grin further like he had not been turned down.

''Well, if you are not going to concede after I asked nicely, I will just have to force you.''

Itachi knew that Naruto would not fight Kisame, unless he said it was a good idea. If Kisame attacked Naruto and got close to him, the blond would use his great speed to annoy his friend. But if Naruto had much in his mind, it was better to allow him to fight with Kisame. If he fought, he would release all his emotions, thus clearing his thoughts. But knowing both of them, it would destroy the hideout. He chose against that. And besides, it would not be a good idea to have Naruto relieve himself by destroying some things.

''Kisame, let it go. I am sure Naruto will fight you some other time,'' Itachi said in a tone of finality. ''Naruto, why don't you come inside so I can talk to you...'' It was certainly not a request from the Uchiha. Both the blond and Kisame were quick to realize that fact.

''Sure,'' Naruto relented as he followed Itachi.

**Two days later**

The Village Hidden in Rain, Amegakure no Sato. It was just as rainy as Itachi had said it was. Naruto could never quite get hold of how some people can get used to living in certain conditions. He could never imagine living in a place where it was constantly raining. It was also the same with Sunagakure, the village was in the middle of the desert. It was damn hot within the desert, and yet the people from there were very much used to the heat. He was used to the clear skies of the Fire country. The weather in the area was enjoyable and acceptable. But the rain was not as bad was the desert.

Naruto looked at the tall buildings of the village - they were very unique. He had never seen such designs in all the places he had been too. Well, each village had its own culture and it was somewhat understandable that they could make their buildings such as these. They could not use the same material as Konoha given that the village was full of water. It was always raining in here. The buildings looked more like industrial buildings more than anything else. But the view of new things was quite lovely. It was nice seeing new things other than things he was used to seeing within the large walls of Konohagakure.

The villagers seemed lively. He was seeing people who were happy all around him. It was much different from Konoha. Perhaps in Konoha he knew that those smiles could change overnight. He knew that deep within much of the villagers laid much hatred. But looking at these smiles and happy expressions from the villagers of the Rain, he could not help but smile slightly at this. For a moment all his worries had washed away. Perhaps he should smile a bit more often.

Itachi had only given him a map to come towards the village and told him to travel alone. He reasoned that travelling alone would help him clear his thoughts. It was indeed a good thought after he had spoken with the Uchiha. The man had given him a few tips on how to overcome his clouding thoughts. But he still needed to process things on his own. However, while travelling, the Gods seemed to love seeing him troubled as he found himself in need to kill so he could save. It was certainly looking like the Gods were putting these evil people in front of him just to screw with him. He had to see things that did not make him feel good at all. The principle of killing to save was weighing down on him much more.

However, entering Amegakure had lightened up things for him.

He finally reached the largest tower. Konan, no rather, the Angel of Amegakure was waiting for him. Itachi had said so. He had never quite actually seen the woman before. Itachi had nothing to show him about her physical appearance nor did he bother to brief him on the detail. He did not even tell him much about the woman. He was merely told he would find out more about her once he started talking to her.

After entering the tower, he was accompanied to the woman by a shinobi. The way towards her was slow, but he did not mind. When he finally reached her, the shinobi excused himself. Naruto came into the view of the woman - she was standing inside this room which was like a hall. She was standing beside the window overlooking the village. She did not turn to face him immediately. But he could see that she had seen him using the reflection on the window. Finally she turned around to face him.

Naruto had to admit. She looked quite lovely for someone her age.

''Namikaze Naruto,'' Konan said in a tone devoid of any emotion.

This was certainly going to be a lovely meeting, Naruto thought as he walked towards the woman. He stood beside her looking through the window, she did the same. Looking over the village from up here, he could see that the woman has indeed done a good job in stabilizing the village. She was also oddly quite. ''Now I see why Itachi refused to tell me anything about you,'' the blond commented quietly, just enough for Konan to hear him.

**River country (Two days later)**

It was the first time that Naruto had travelled into this country. But looking at the map Jiraiya had given him before they even embarked on a journey outside the village of Konoha, he could see that in order to go to the Wind Country, he had to pass through the river country borders. He made sure to avoid any civilization while on the way. It would not take a whole day for him to pass through the river country. It was going to be noon soon, so he would probably get to a motel once he got close to the wind borders. It would be dangerous to travel over night in the desert. It was better that he leave the travelling during day. The winds at the desert were rumored to pick up dangerously during night. For his health, he decided to travel during day. He had been travelling for some time now, rest was needed.

He had spent a night only in Ame. He spoke well with Konan, but the woman was currently unavailable as she was still busy in quest to restore control over Amegakure. But she could be available should he need her help. He had also offered her his help if she needed it. He could help her despite being a Konoha shinobi. Jiraiya and Tsunade just did not have to know about it. It would cause much trouble and headaches if it got out that he was doing some activities for a foreign village without the permission of the Hokage. It would certainly cause much rift between him, Tsunade and the council. They would certainly be wary of his adventures. He did not want to give Tsunade trouble though.

After travelling for about two or three hours; Naruto came to a complete halt as he sensed chakra being used. Just then there was a rather resounding explosion. He stopped as he tried to sense everything clearly, but given his distance he could not quite make the picture of what was going on. He looked at the direction on his left before hitting the ground. Moving at his fastest speed, he rushed towards the place. The closer he got, he could feel that the chakra was fading away. It would be bad if it did because he would lose the exact location of where he was sensing the chakra from. But after some moments, he was able to get the location. He made sure to hide his presence well. By the time he got there, the chakra signatures were gone.

He could see perfectly well, why it had disappeared, the shinobi using the chakra were dead. There were four of them; he could not quite make their clothing because they were burned. The explosion he heard must have wounded them which resulted in the men left standing overpowering them. By their stature, he could see that the men left standing were bandits; they were rather armed for bandits and looked bodily prepared for battle. They were about 25 of them lying in the ground, dead and 17 more standing. They did not seem to care for their dead comrades. Such was the shinobi world. The mission was far more important than comrades. Shinobi and bandits were not so much different in that regard. Well, at least not everyone thought much like that. Most of shinobi would never abandon their teammates. They would try to help them and then try to succeed on their given mission.

There was small four-wheeled vehicle not so far away from where the battle had taken place. The thing looked normal, but there was no doubt someone in there. He could not sense any chakra from it; this meant that the person being carried was not a shinobi. It was still surprising how calm the person seemed to be. He or she was aware that the guards were dead, but yet remained quite inside her transport. Perhaps the person was shaking in fear within it. He did not have more time to dwell on it further as the bandits started moving towards the transport with wicked grins. That only confirmed to him that the person was still inside the transport.

Sighing, Naruto jumped out of the tree was watching from and landed on the ground silently. It was to his pride that no one from the bandits had taken notice of his presence. He could deal with it silently. Yes, it seemed the logical choice. He took out a Kunai and sped towards the bandits.

He only killed one before the others took notice of him. ''What the hell?'' one yelled furiously turning towards him.

So much for doing it silently...

But he did not say much more to them. He jumped back and formed hand seals. **''Futon:** **Kaze Shuriken no Jutsu**,'' he muttered. He calculated the shurikens and controlled them with precision. They were invincible to the naked eye. So the bandits would not be able to take notice of them. Being made of wind - which meant they were very sharp - the shurikens sped towards the bandits and hit them in their necks. The shurikens pierced through the front stopping their air supply. Naruto knew they would die soon from the gashes, but it would do well to his gut if he quickly ended them. Without wasting more time, he took out a kunai before finishing them off.

When he was done, he gathered all the bodies in a bundle before putting them on fire with a katon Jutsu. That erased everything. He did not burn the bodies of the shinobis. Whoever may have hired them may perhaps want the bodies. Well, if it was some rich fool, he would certainly not care if his guards had been killed. Certainly, he would merely brush them aside, and state they were weak that is why they were dead. If it came to that, Naruto would surely leave the person alone, even if he was offered much money to carry out the guarding job. He had no business with such kind of people.

Naruto turned around and walked calmly towards the transport, he looked at it for a moment. He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts before opening. He was not expecting that he found. A woman, in her early 20s. She had long green hair that framed both sides of her face. To complement to that, she also had this bright green eyes. Her skin was fair. She had a sizeable chest, that much he could clearly see. The woman was wearing a light green kimono. It had nothing special on it. Naruto could only guess that she was perhaps a daughter of a rich man or some wealthy noble.

The blond also noticed that she had a nervous smile when he opened the door. Her hands were behind her, she was probably hiding a kunai behind her. But she seemed to replace her nervous smile with a warm one when she spotted his headband. But he hands remained on her back, just in case...

Naruto decided to skip with the pleasantries. ''It is not safe for such a beautiful lady to venture out of her home with four guards when vultures are lurking in the shadows,'' the blond stated ever so politely. By looking at her, he could see that she did not look like much of a bad person. But then again, appearances were deceiving.

The young woman continued giving him a warm smile. ''Thanks for the flattery, but they were not four of them. Most of them were killed a day ago when we came across vultures, as you put it,'' she responded in a kind tone mixed with some emotion. But her hands still remained behind her as she responded.

Naruto nodded. ''The world is indeed dangerous, especially for a woman,'' he said quietly. But the woman heard him clearly.

''It indeed is. I did not quite believe it when I was told,'' the woman said, her smile disappearing. But now she did. Her smile appeared again. ''But I guess it is alright since there are gentleman such as yourself to save us when these vultures appear. Perhaps I stayed here silently when my guards were being killed because I believed a prince charming would save me,'' her smile became slightly sly as she spoke.

''Prince charming?'' Naruto said in a thoughtful tone before shrugging. ''Well, he did appear now. You should be careful next time, he might not appear again to save you,'' the blond responded. So not like him to respond like that. He would have told her such things did not exist, but considering what had happened, it was better for her that he played that way.

''Well if he does give me his numbers, I may call him when I am backed against the wall, or the next time vultures appear if you could say,'' her warm smile was never lost as she spoke. The slight playful tone made it difficult to say if she was being serious or not. But it did not matter much to Naruto.

Naruto looked at the woman before him with a smile. It was the first time he was smiling at her since he started speaking with her. ''Perhaps I might,'' his tone was still the usual. He was not the one to be playful, but given his current state of mind. Anything was welcome to clear his thoughts. As long as he did not end up regretting anything he did afterward.

If possible the woman's smile widened slightly as she saw his small smile. ''You look rather handsome while smiling. You should smile a bit more often, you may find yourself lucky with the females.''

''I have been told so before,'' Naruto responded looking up at the heavens. Two or three more hours, it was going to become late. He had a feeling that he was not going to find a hotel anywhere near the wind border. He had thought he would find one and rest, but it appears that he was not going to find any. The map he had did not show to be any in he could rest in. The map was recent; Jiraiya had marked it well since he was always travelling around the Elemental Nations.

''By the looks of things, you did not take the advice seriously,'' the woman responded. Her hands were still behind her as she spoke, still grasping the kunai firmly. She saw Naruto turn around as if he were leaving. She spoke with a raised brow. ''You are going to leave a lady in the middle of the forest with vultures lurking in the forest?'' she made sure she used the term Naruto used in describing bandits. ''You have not even given me your name.''

Naruto turned around to look at her. ''I was not leaving. I was merely checking something. But you also have not told me of your name.''

The woman held out a right hand leaving her left behind her. ''Miyuki,'' she said.

Naruto held her hand, it was soft, not very surprising. ''Naruto,'' he said telling her his name. He felt no need to hide it from her. ''So Miyuki, where are you headed to?''

It was very surprising to hear a guy call her without the affectionate suffix -Chan or the polite one, -san. It was very warming to her. She was used to hear people calling her name with different honorifics. But the change was welcomed. ''Wind Country. But I have to first go to Sunagakure to hire more guards for my protection.''

''You are very fortunate. I am also headed there,'' Naruto responded holding out a single hand sign. He noticed that Miyuki tensed slightly seeing him hold the hand seal. But he did nothing to comfort her. Four clones puffed into existence and picked up the transport. Naruto got in and sat beside her. The inside was very luxurious unlike the outside. It also smelled some expensive perfume. ''You can let go of your kunai. I won't hurt you.''

She seemed to contemplate before releasing a breath of relief. She brought her hands in front of her and picked up the bag beside her to create more space for Naruto to sit. He did not seem to be offended by the lack of trust. ''It is difficult to trust someone these days. A person can be so charming and kind, and yet be a cold hearted killer.''

The transport started moving forward. ''I thought you said you were not familiar with how dangerous the world was,'' the blond stated looking straight into her eyes.

''I did. But both situations are quite different. Wouldn't you say?''

Naruto merely nodded. ''Where are you coming from?''

''I live in the Wind country. But over the past week, I was in the Fire country's capital conducting some business. I am returning home now,'' Miyuki responded. Now she was certain that the blond did not know who she was. He seemed genially curious. And his presence was quite warming. But she still held her guard up. You could never be too comfortable with strangers.

Naruto noticed that she did not mention where exactly she lived and the kind of business she was doing in the Fire country capital. But he could get more information from her quite easily if he wanted to. He settled for nodding in acceptance of her response before keeping quite.

''What about you? Are you on some kind of mission for Konoha?'' She seemed genially curious.

''No,'' Naruto responded calmly. He knew she would ask another follow up question to that. He would wait for it and answer it as soon as she questioned. He was not going to lie to her. He would just omit some important details.

''So you are just stopping by Sunagakure? Or just decided to tag along with me?'' her last words seemed to suggest something. The words also seemed to have been said intentionally as if she wanted to see how he would respond.

Although, he would admit that she was a desirable woman, he had not thought of doing anything to her. A part of him wanted to follow along with her last words. Perhaps he had watched Jiraiya too much when he dealt with women. It was not doing anything good to him. ''I was on a mission with Jiraiya of the Sannin. Once the mission was done, I decided to visit Sunagakure to see the Kazekage. The last time I saw him was three years ago when he had visited Konoha. We left on good terms.'' Gaara had come to Konoha after the chunin exams. He and his other siblings had saved some of his peers from death. Had it not been for them, some of them would have been killed. The Jinchuriki seemed to have changed during that time and referred to him as a friend.

''Jiraiya of the Sannin? You were on a mission with him? You must be someone strong or important to be on a mission with someone famous like him.'' It was hardly a surprise to Naruto that the woman knew about Jiraiya. The man was famous all over the Elemental Nations. Not only for his heroics as a Sannin but also for his work with his Icha Icha books. It was a surprise to him that there was a number of women who actually read the book.

''I am neither of those. The Sannin had just offered to take me with him since I had been bored in the village for the lack of missions. And I was more than willing to travel with him. Since the man was very familiar with the Elemental Nations, I just thought it would be a great experience for me to leave with him,'' Naruto explained lightly. Well, he had not requested to go with the man when he was travelling around to meet with his spy contacts. The man had offered to take him along. He was more than willing to tag along.

Miyuki seemed to think for a moment before she shrugged. ''Is it really true that he is a shameless pervert?''

Naruto nodded. ''That is quite true,'' he was also not surprised that it was known to other people that the man was a shameless pervert. Well the man refused to be called a pervert. He argued that he was a SUPER pervert. Naruto could never quite figure how the man could take such pride in being like that. Perhaps the man just accepted who he was. As far as he was concerned, the man had always been a pervert even from young age.

They talked more for the next two hours before it finally got dark. The conversation with the woman was quite random but pleasant. Naruto noted that Miyuki was indeed from a noble family, although, she did not seem to like formalities, but was quite a lively person too. Her mouth was always open. Naruto figured that it was because she was trying not to think over the fact that she was nearly captured by bandits. He very well knew that she was aware of what they did to those they kidnapped. She must have thought of the matter when she realized that all her guards had been captured. Still, he gave her credit. She did not break down or anything. She kept her calm and spoke as though she had nothing troubling. It was almost amusing because he also had many thoughts that were troubling him and yet he was still talking like everything was alright. It was the same for Miyuki.

The young woman herself had also noted a few things about her savior. He was very calm and showed little emotion. But she had managed to get him to laugh. It was quite a warming feeling to hear him laugh. He did not seem to fluster when she flirted or spoke some personal things. He merely gave her a small smile. That spoke very high emotional control to her. Still, it was a rather difficult thing to contain some feelings. Perhaps like her, he had other things troubling him at the back of his mind. She could not tell though. He seemed okay like nothing was bothering him. She had realized until later that she had spoken much with him that she had let her guard down. She did not curse herself for it because the blond did nothing to her. He did not even seem to be checking her at the corner of his eyes. So she had nothing to be worried about.

''Do you know if there is Hotel somewhere in the borders of the Wind country?'' Naruto asked suddenly. He had a feeling she might know given that she seemed to know a few places.

''Yes. There is one. It is within the river country. But close to the borders,'' Miyuki responded before giving him her map. Naruto took it out and marked where he was before directing his clones to the place. If there was a place to rest, he could do well with that.

They finally arrived at the place and Naruto rented two rooms. The rooms were next to each other, he had settled for giving the woman her privacy. It was reasonable for him to do so. He did not waste time after getting to his room; he washed himself and went to sleep. His body was tired, and he would use a lot of energy tomorrow when travelling in the desert. With someone who could not move as fast as him. This means that the woman would rely on him to move about in the desert. This meant that he would have to use more energy while travelling.

**The following day**

It was early in the morning that Naruto had woken up Miyuki. She had been sound asleep when he did so. He was a bit thankful that he had sent a clone to wake her up. The clone had knocked at her door but there was no answer so it proceeded to forcefully open the door. He did not catch the woman naked or anything. She just seemed not to be a morning person. He had told her that he was not working on her timetable but his. They were going to get to Sunagakure when he wanted. They were not going to move when she felt like waking up. He had been firm when the woman gave him a challenging gaze.

''We will have to leave your ''transport'' here,'' Naruto stated after they had left the hotel. They had now entered into the Wind country.

''Why?''

''I need to move faster. And I cannot do that while moving this thing. It is much more of a hinder crane than anything,'' Naruto explained sealing her bag. He now knew that it carried her clothes since she had changed. The woman was wearing a black kimono. It was obvious that the material was expensive.

''How am I going to travel? Do you plan on having me run along with you in the desert?'' Miyuki questioned with a slight stern tone. It was obvious that the option of running was out of the question for her. Naruto had nothing of that sort in mind though.

''I doubt you would survive,'' Naruto commented. By his tone, it could be said that he was not mocking her. It was merely stating the obvious. ''You will travel on my back. Do you have a problem with that?'' The blond gave the woman a blank stare making it impossible for her to read into his suggestion. She failed to think of what he was thinking.

She folded her arms across her chest and gave the blond a look. Naruto knew she was going to make a sly comment. He had no time for that. Before she could say anything, Naruto picked her up with force, yet so gently and placed her on his back. He could feel her glare as she spoke. ''That is not how you treat a woman!'' she seemed to be pouting.

Naruto ignored her words. ''Hold on tight,'' he stated before taking off. He felt her tight grip over his shoulders as he started to move.

''Try not to enjoy this,'' Naruto heard Miyuki say as he ran across the ground.

**Well that brings about the end of chapter 11. **

**Sir Robert Mulaudzi**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Flowing with the Wind**

**Sunagakur**e

Finally, they reached the village hidden in Sand. Naruto dropped Miyuki and allowed her to walk on her own feet as they made their way towards the gates. The woman had requested that she be put down, so he did. He had been moving pretty fast on his way. This made the journey short, but at the same time energy consuming because he was carrying another load on his back. He was glad that he had trained his body physically with Itachi; otherwise, he would not have survived without taking a rest in the desert. The Kyuubi did well in helping him recover his energy. But he was really spent. If there was a fight to break about now, he would surely be defeated unless he called upon the Kyuubi's chakra. But the tiredness would surely catch up to him soon.

The feeling the country gave him was very much refreshing. He could feel the wind very well. It was blowing very calmly. He could feel it gracing his skin, waiting for him to snap his fingers so he could control it. Being a master of wind was surely a good thing for him. If he lived in this kind of area where the wind was strong, he would certainly be an unprecedented foe. He was a master of the wind element, and when it was strong, he could do so many miraculous things with it. It also appeared that this place was the place he could use well to train more in his wind armor. He could very well use it here. But this was not his home. He would have to learn to use it in places where the wind was not that strong.

''You have awfully become quite,'' Miyuki commented looking at the blond who seemed to be in thought. Ever since he put her down, he had seemed to become occupied with his thoughts. She had allowed him to think for a moment but now she was curious. She wondered what was going through his head. She was not going to outright ask what he was thinking. But she had gone around.

''So have you,'' Naruto responded calmly. ''If you had been talking, I would not have been quite,'' he seemed to deflect the question. But it was all true. If she had engaged him in conversation, they would have been talking while heading towards the gates of Sunagakure. But she chose to become quite.

''You know what I mean.''

Naruto sighed. ''The wind, It is much stronger here than in any other country.''

''Well, duh? This is called the Wind country. Of course the wind will be much stronger here than in any other country,'' Miyuki responded calmly. ''But you should know that. What interests you with the wind?''

Before Naruto could answer, they came close to the gates. He noticed that there were a number of people at the gates. He had taken notice that ANBU of the Sand had picked up his presence some time ago. They must have gone back to the village and reported to the Kazekage. He was quick to notice that the Sand siblings were also standing in the middle of the gate with Gaara between his brother and sister. He narrowed his eyes at Miyuki for a moment before speaking. ''It seems our presence has even attracted the Kazekage,'' he said to her.

''It seems that way,'' the woman seemed to shrug in response.

When they reached the gates, Naruto noticed the stiff reaction of the guards but he said nothing about it. ''Well, Miyuki, it seems that we will go our separate ways from here,'' the blond stated. His eyes never looking at her, but the reaction of each person as he spoke.

The Kazekage and his sisters could hear him. But he had decided to speak with the woman first before disappearing. Temari and Kankuro seemed to tense when he called the woman by her name, he noticed this at the corner of his eyes. It seems that his suspicions were going to be proven right.

''It appears so...''

''Well, I will be seeing you.''

Before Naruto could leave, the woman spoke to him. ''Naruto,'' she called making him face her again. ''Are you gay?''

Naruto merely gave her a blank look before shaking his head. ''No...What makes you say that?'' he questioned curiously. He did not know that he left the impression that he was no interested in women.

''Well after everything, I thought you would request payment for your efforts. You have not even stolen a glance at my body. I thought you might even request a date as a form of payment,'' she stated audible enough for everyone at the gate to hear her.

''If a man shamelessly glances at your body, admiring it, you call him a pervert. When he does not, you think he is a homo. How troublesome'' Naruto responded shaking his head. ''Let me correct you then; My lack of stealing glances was not because I do not admire you. You are a beautiful woman. I have no doubt that the Kazekage would agree with me on that one,'' he looked at Gaara at the corner of his eyes. The man did not visibly react. But he saw something in those eyes. ''Your body is also quite desirable. I would be lying to myself if I said it was not. By the way your bust was comforting my back, it took some self-control to hold myself from halting to request a lap dance in the middle of the desert.''

''...''

"But of course I was merely joking about the last part." Naruto smiled.

''I was not expecting that kind of honestly. But still, you can't disappear without being paid,'' Miyuki stated. ''I will pay you any price you name. You did save my life. And carried me all the way here.''

Naruto merely smiled slightly. ''You did mention something about a date. But I would rather not call it that, how about dinner some day when I am around the wind country?''

''Sure, that will be great.'' The woman seemed rather excited by the thought.

Naruto nodded and walked towards Gaara and his siblings. ''Hello, Kazekage-sama,'' he greeted politely, surprising the siblings with his attitude. This is certainly new. Naruto was not this calm and they never thought he would greet so politely acknowledging that Gaara has more authority than him.

''Naruto, are you aware that woman is the Feudal Lord of the Wind country?'' Gaara questioned quietly, loud enough for Naruto to hear him. The only response the blond gave was a raised brow.

''...and you just asked her out on a date. She practically jumped to say yes. Lucky bastard,'' Kankuro whispered to the blond.

Naruto shook his head. ''I am not surprised. The guards were ready to bow before her when we came here. But she gave them a warning with her eyes. This also explains your presence here'' he paused for a moment. What were the odds? Things could work well for him. He was not going to act all surprised and start to bow his head over the Daimio. He had to play things right. ''I am really tired. I will you see later. I am going to look for a hotel to rest,'' the blond stated in a slight tired voice.

''Hold on Naruto,'' Gaara said. ''You are a friend. Although I would wish to speak with about what had just happened here, I can see that you are tired. Temari will take you to our home, you can rest there.''

Naruto merely nodded, as Temari demanded that he follow her. Nothing seemed to have changed with her as much as he could see from the woman. The blond said nothing to her though. He merely allowed her to usher him to a place of rest.

''Daimyo-sama,'' Gaara greeted as the woman stepped closer to him after Naruto had walked away. She seemed to have been waiting for the blond to leave.

''There is no need for that, Kazekage. Have some of your shinobi to prepare for my leave. I will have to leave tomorrow morning,'' her tone had changed from that she had been using with Naruto to that of one used to be in authority. ''Now let us go to your office so we can discuss business and your friendship with the son of Konoha's Yellow Flash.''

Gaara nodded and looked at Kankuro. ''You heard her,'' he merely stated. The elder brother nodded and went his way. ''Please, follow me.''

**Gaara's office**

''This is my second time coming here ever since I took over from my father, isn't it?'' Miyuki stated looking straight at the impassive Jinchuriki in front of her. They were already sitting down in Gaara's office. She spoke first, seeing that the Kage seemed to have been waiting for her to gather her thoughts.

''Yes,'' Gaara responded with a curt nod.

''It is still the same as I remember. I would have thought it might have changed. But then again, nothing seems to change in a Kage's office except for one who sits behind the desk,'' the Wind Daimyo stated calmly.

Gaara was quite for a few moments. He was trying to formulate how he would put his words. He did not want to sound too disrespectful to the Daimyo. Over the past years, Sunagakure has never had a good relationship with the Wind Daimyo. But since Miyuki took charge, she seemed to be willing to change things between Suna and the council of the Daimyo. The first time they spoke, she seemed to be willing to speak with him kindly. He did not want to mess that up by acting or speaking in a way that would not please her. He knew well enough how Daimyo's were about respect. But this woman seemed to be a little different.

The kind of conversation she was having with the blond was not what he would expect. She did not even wear the clothes of the Wind Daimyo when not doing important things. Still, she spoke to Naruto like she was some woman and he was some guy. She did not even tell him of her status, but Naruto did not seem to be too surprised about it when he informed him of it. She had practically suggested a date with him. It was still a surprise to him how Naruto was more than willing to say they have dinner together. The two seemed to speak well with each other, but they did not know about each other that well, since it seems that they just came across while heading here. He would have to enquire more about that.

Good thing for Gaara, Miyuki seemed to read some of his thoughts.''You are wondering how I came across Naruto?'' the Sand Kage nodded. ''Well you must have noticed that I did not have my guards with me. As you know, Daimyo's always travel with guards to protect them. But I am having none of them.''

''I was curious about that. But you mention about him saving you...''

''Well, I was travelling from the Fire Capital going back home. We were attacked by some bandits, but my guards dealt with them. However some of my guards lost of their lives. We were attacked again before we could leave the borders of the Fire country. Some of us survived,'' she paused for a moment. ''I thought we would not be attacked again once we entered into the River country, but I was wrong, when the third assault came, I was only left with four guards, but they were also killed.''

Gaara was silent as he absorbed everything. ''...So that is when Naruto came.''

Miyuki nodded with a small smile. ''Yes, he took care of the bandits before coming to me. Had it not been for him, I would have been somewhere else held captive,'' she stated. 'Doing God knows what,' she finished in thought.

''It was fortunate that he was able to come and rescue you. The time of it is quite baffling though. However, some people do have some luck in appearing at the right time,'' Gaara responded quietly. He dared not think that the blond had something to do with the attacks. He might seem to have changed, but something like that was beyond him.

''That you are right about.''

''By the nature of the attacks, the logical conclusion would be that someone powerful is behind them.''

Miyuki fixed Gaara a serious look that changed the atmosphere within the office. ''Someone is after me. And I did not leave the Fire capital in agreement with everyone. I would suspect that someone from the Fire capital is after me. I am giving you an opportunity to prove your worth and that you are capable. I want you to prove to me that I have not made a mistake in planning to increase your funding. Should you find out who was trying to have me killed, and bring the evidence to me, I will ensure that Suna is never abandoned by the Wind country.''

''I will find out who is behind the attacks and hand them to you, Daimyo-sama. You have my word on that,'' Gaara spoke in clear determination to make true to his word. He would certainly not fail. Still, he knew that this was not a task that could guarantee that he was capable as a leader. She was just making things easy for him. But even so, he would not fail.

''I expect nothing less from the youngest Kage in the history of the Elemental Nations,'' she seemed to lose her serious expression.

''Did Naruto tell you that he is the son of the Yondaime Hokage?'' Gaara asked curiously. There has been a rumor roaming around the nations that the Yondaime Hokage had left a son. But Konoha was not confirming anything nor denying anything. Their resemblance spoke the truth though. Especially since Naruto seemed to mature and allowed his hair to grow. One could not deny that Uzumaki Naruto is the son of the late Hokage of Konoha.

''No,'' Miyuki responded shaking her head slightly. ''He did not even tell me his family name. Now that I think of it, he gave me nothing, it was just his name. All I learned from him is something anyone can see if they look close enough. But that does not matter anyway. I know because it is my business as a Daimyo to know everything if not most things about my allies. Wouldn't you agree that it would be a benefit us if another yellow flash was in good terms with us?''

''It certainly would be. Though, I don't think of Naruto in that way,'' the Kazekage added carefully. He was not about to agree into using the blond. Naruto was much valuable and a good person to be used by him or anyone.

''I am not suggesting that we use him. I am merely stating a fact. And besides, it has come to my attention that you consider him a friend,'' he is also quite a nice guy, I would not mind being acquitted to him, the Wind Daimyo finished in thought. ''Tell me, how close are you to him?''

''We are not that close. I don't know everything about him personally. What I do know is that he has a good heart and was the one who made me see what was important. He opened my eyes. You know about my...past. Had it not been for him, I might still have been the same person as I was. As such, I consider him my first friend because of that. He is also quite similar to me in some ways.''

''Is he a Jinchuriki, too?'' that was the first thought that came into the Daimyo when the red haired said the blond was similar to him. She could only think he was like him in that way.

Gaara thought before responding. He nodded, ''Yes.''

''What more do you think of him, as a shinobi, as a person, as a Jinchuriki?'' the woman seemed genially curious about her question. Now Gaara was not going to deny her that. It was just his thoughts. She was merely asking his opinion; he would give it to her as honest as he could.

''I don't know much as a shinobi. But I have heard that he never gives up no matter what odds he is faced with. I can say that it is quite true given my experience in my battle with him. As a person, he seems to hold dear to his loved ones. As a Jinchuriki, he is a better person than I am. Jinchurikis suffer the same fate. When I was up against my fate, I lost my self in darkness. But he did not, even when he had no family. But I had my brother and sister who were always by my side, no matter how many times I threatened to kill them. I failed to see that they cared and only cared for myself. But he chose to care for other people, for the village that resented him, and never lost his way. Overall, I believe he is a better person than I am,'' Gaara gave his honest response to the woman sitting before him.

''So Naruto is quite an interesting shinobi,'' the Daimyo paused for a moment. ''Were you aware that he was coming to visit you?''

Gaara shook his head, no.

The Daimyo nodded before standing up. ''I will discuss much with you about our own relations in the coming weeks when I return here. Right now, I need to rest. Naruto was moving way too fast for my comfort,'' well, she did not complain about it. She only held on firmly behind him as he dashed across the desert.

Gaara stood up quickly. ''I will show you your place for rest.''

**Later that day (Konoha)**

Tsunade sighed as she finished off her last paperwork for the day. She could not help but feel that this peace she was enjoying was not going to last that very long. It has been indeed so peaceful since she took charge of the village. At the moment, Konoha was in no conflict with any other village and she had no enemies that could give her headaches. Well, there was Orochimaru, but she could rest for a while knowing her former teammate would not attack recklessly after last time. She was still here and so was Jiraiya. The two of them could handle anything her sadistic former teammate could throw at them. The village also had some strong ninja's but she did not think that many of them could handle a sannin like Orochimaru. Still, the village was at peace. She was mainly doing the usual staff that did not have her worried about the safety of the village. Akatsuki were gone, there was little to worry. She could not help that this peace was going to shatter soon.

Perhaps she was just over thinking things. But one thing was certain, as she has discovered in all her days living in this cruel world, peace never lasted for too long. One day you could smile and laugh thinking that everything was alright, but then in just bang, a kunai pierces you from behind. It was like that in this world. You always had to be watching your back, even in peaceful times. Within her office, there were ANBU, always watching her to ensure that no one tried anything. If a threat were to come to her, they would hurry to appear in no time to rescue her. Still, she was in peace.

There was Naruto; Jiraiya had informed him that the blond would return soon. But it had been a few days now and there was still nothing. It seemed to her that the blond liked being away from Konoha. She did not even know what he was doing after he separated from Jiraiya. She did not like it. But she had to accept that Naruto was not that same stupid gaki he was back then. However, he was still a brat, but she had to admit that he had matured well, enough to take care of himself. Perhaps that is what bothered her. She wanted to care for him, protect him. She did not want to feel useless. Caring for him was not enough for her. She felt that she had to protect him with all her might. Was that wrong of her to feel that way? She shook her head no. There was nothing wrong with wanting to protect someone that was precious your her heart.

''Naruto again?'' Shizune said, seeing the faraway look on Tsunade's face. She only got that look when she was thinking of the blond. She had to admit that her master did worry about the blond too much than she should. She also cared for Naruto, but she had faith in him to believe that he could take care of himself.

''Yes,'' Tsunade responded slowly. ''I am just wondering where he went after leaving Jiraiya. It has been a few days since they separated. And I would have thought that he would be returning to the village soon.''

''He may be taking some time to relax away from the village,'' Shizune responded, not too concerned about it.

''I highly doubt it,'' Tsunade paused for a moment and then narrowed her eyes to the door as she saw it open. Danzou walked inside the office with his annoying look and narrowed eyes. ''How many times must I tell you to knock before you enter my office Danzou?'' the Godaime spoke with a stern face.

Danzou wisely ignored her question and got into more important matters ignoring the fact that Shizune was inside. He knew that she would be told what he discussed with the woman. So her presence was not a factor. ''I have received a report from one of my agents.''

This pulled Tsunade's interest and she forgot all about his behavior. ''What is it?'' she asked in a serious tone. It must have been important for the man to come all the way to her to inform her about it. But she wondered why he would come to tell her. Perhaps he was more interested in seeing her reaction. There was not everything that the old war hawk would discuss with her.

''Uzumaki Naruto, no rather Namikaze Naruto as he calls himself now was seen crossing the Rain borders a few days ago. I was not aware that he was assigned any missions to that village. And I highly doubt that he went there on your orders,'' the eyes of the 'cripple'' were firmly on the Godaime to narrow her reaction.

''Are you certain about this, Danzou?'' she drawled the war hawks name. She did not know anything about this. Jiraiya had not told her about it. This must have been after he left Jiraiya. She was damn curious. She would get to the bottom of this as soon as the blond came back.

''Yes.'' Danzou got what he wanted from the blonde Hokage. What he did not tell Tsunade was that Naruto was not hiding his entrance in Rain. With the boys unique Shadow clone Jutsu, he could easily sneak into the village without exposing his identity. The blond was also fast enough to avoid patrol ANBU. But Tsunade did not need to know that.

''…Thank you for informing me, Danzou. You can leave, now.''

Not so surprisingly to Tsunade, Danzou left the room quietly.

**Meanwhile (Sunagakure**)

It was very surprising for Temari to see a guy who said he had been tired and needed rest and was now in a training ground. Darkness had yet to take over. But the blond had said he was tired about at least three hours ago and now he was in a training ground with little light around him. She could see so could he. But she did not expect him to be in a training ground when he had sounded very tired earlier during day. She shook her head, perhaps it was a habit of man. She knew with her brother, Kankuro, that even when he was just released from the hospital, she would find him trying to get better with his puppets. However, she was always ready to smack him on the back of his head with her fan if she caught him in the act.

''It is not really nice to stare at someone like that,'' Naruto spoke snapping Temari out of her thought process. With the wind blowing like this, he could feel any presence within a certain distance around him. It made this place like his home ground. Just as it was impossible to sneak behind Gaara, it was impossible to sneak behind him when he was in this kind of environment.

Temari had not realized that she was staring. She had been caught up in her thoughts. ''I thought you were tired,'' she stated, brushing off the fact that she had been staring.

''I was.'' Naruto responded quietly, looking straight at Temari.

''If you were tired you would not be in this training ground,'' Temari responded never taking her eyes of the blond, who was now walking towards her in a slow pace.

''I was not doing anything that could be categorized as a physical activity and potentially tiring,'' the blond stated calmly.

Temari could not argue with that. She found the blond motionless when she came here. So she could not say that he was doing any physical activity. She also did not even sense any usage of chakra when she came here. There was no way to retort so she settled for shaking her head. ''Gaara is back at home.'' She did not need to say anything further.

''I thought he would go back home later on,'' Naruto stated, standing in front of Temari.

He definitely has changed and matured, the blonde sister of the Kazekage noted. Well at least he was not that annoying loudmouthed brat he used to be. ''He decided to leave his office early today.''

Naruto nodded and raised his right towards Temari. The woman tracked the hand as it fell on her shoulder. Before she could open her mouth, they disappeared into nothingness.

**Kazekage resident**

''I could have gotten back here by myself, you know,'' Temari said a little bit annoyed that Naruto had the audacity to move her around without even asking her permission. Who the hell just walks onto a girl and teleports her to another place without telling her first? What if she had retaliated and kicked him thinking he was taking her somewhere else?

''I will remember that next time,'' Naruto responded, not so much concerned about Temari's annoyed look. ''Perhaps if there is a next time, I will leave you by yourself after you had come to call me.''

That was certainly not the response Temari expected. ''That is not what I am saying.''

''Then explain. It would be a bothersome task to try to analyze the meaning of your words myself if you are standing right in front of me,'' Naruto stated in a light tone. He did not seem annoyed nor interested in the conversation he was having with Temari.

''I am trying to say that you should say so when you are going to do something like that next time. It is not polite to just do something like you just pulled,'' her annoyed expression seemed to grow into her voice. But still, it did not bother her fellow blond.

''Polite?'' it seemed to amuse Naruto slightly. ''I did not know you used the term. Considering all my interactions with you, you seemed to be nothing but polite. Even earlier at the gate, you demanded that I follow you. Isn't it hypocrital for you to say something like that?''

''Tch,'' Temari growled. But she did not answer the question. She did not think the blond would backtalk her like that.

''Ah, women with anger issues sometimes amuse me,'' Naruto stated in a barely audible voice, but Temari heard him. He was not expecting her to hear him, but it served no consequence, if she actually heard him.

''What did you just say?'' Temari questioned with a slight glare. Her hands were already grabbing her fan. She did not seem to appreciate what the blond had just said.

''Judging by your reaction; you heard me,'' the blond then folded his hands across his chest. His words only infuriated Temari further. But Naruto seemed oblivious to it, or he just did not care. ''Women with anger issues are often impatient, and often resort to violence to settle things. Your stance now makes me presume that you are just about to do that. Do you disagree?''

Temari glared. She was itching to smack the blond in the face with her cold steel fan. But it would just prove that he was right. She could not admit that she was a woman with anger issues. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was right. But then again, who cares? Before she could prove Naruto right, Gaara spoke.

''I see you two are getting along,'' the Sand Jinchuriki stated walking over to them with his older brother walking by his right hand side.

''It appears so,'' Naruto responded, causing Temari's left eye to twitch slightly.

''Come on, let us go out to get something to eat,'' Kankuro stated impatiently before Gaara could respond to Naruto.

Naruto raised a curious eye brow before speaking. ''If it is not too much to ask, but I have been eating meals cooked in restaurants over the past weeks. I would rather eat something cooked ''home'.''

Both Gaara and Kankuro seemed to narrow their eyes at Temari who glared at them as if daring them to say something. Naruto noticed this quite well. ''I just thought it would better since it is your first time coming here.''

''While I appreciate the thought, I would rather eat something cooked here,'' the two males seemed to be hesitant to speak. Naruto shook his head slightly before looking back at Temari. ''Will you show me the kitchen, Temari?'' he seemed to be a little excited about the idea of cooking.

''Why me?''

''Hmm?'' Naruto gave the blonde a blank look. ''Isn't it obvious? You are the woman in this house, should I request Gaara or Kankuro to show me the kitchen? Isn't it your responsibility to take care of your brothers?''

Temari restrained herself and dragged her fellow blond to the kitchen. This seemed to amuse Gaara slightly. But Kankuro was the first to speak. ''If it had been anyone, he would have been hit already. What do you think is making her restrain herself?''

Gaara shrugged.

''100ryo that Naruto won't leave this place without being hit by her fan,'' Kankuro added, not even bothered by the fact that Gaara did not answer his question.

But it seemed like Gaara was actually thinking about it...

**Later**

The four were sitting around the dinning table with the food nicely prepared. Naruto had taken his time to prepare the meal, they waited for him patiently. They did not normally eat dinner at home like this. It was in those rare occasions since Gaara always returned late from his work. His work as Kazekage required that he worked long hours. And since he was the leader of the village, food was often prepared for him within the Kazekage tour. This means that he did not always eat at home. Both Temari and Kankuro were top jonins, meaning they were always busy. They did not spend each night at home. Even when Gaara was going somewhere, they left with him since they were his personal guards.

It was quite good and refreshing to eat dinner together like a family.

''Where did you learn to cook like this, Naruto?'' Gaara asked quietly. The food the blond had prepared was delicious. He could not say that it topped all the meals that he had eaten. But for food cooked by a shinobi like Naruto, it was surprisingly good.

''I have been living on my own since I was six years old,'' he did not have to explain further on that. They understood clearly that if he was living alone, he had no one to cook for him, thus he had to cook for himself. They Sand siblings also knew that the blond had no family to speak of, so there was no need for Naruto to explain on that further.

''I was told the only food you ate was Ramen?'' Kankuro stated with a raised eye brow. Naruto had been quite famous for his consumption of Ramen. Everybody who knew him knew that he only ate Ramen. Perhaps, his Intel was a bit outdated. It had been more than three years since he saw the blond.

''That is not necessarily true. I just used to eat much of it than any other food,'' Naruto responded taking his eyes to Kankuro for a second. ''But during the past three years, I learned to cook more healthy food. And that is how I got used to eating the meals I prepare myself.''

Kankuro nodded. ''Well at least some of us can cook,'' he said in a whisper. But everyone heard him. It seems that it was directed to Temari because his eyes were narrowed at the blonde jonin. She responded by glaring at her brother.

''What is that supposed to mean?'' she asked in a dangerously low, tone.

''Nothing,'' Kankuro wisely responded so not to get into another word contest with his sister. He knew that if he did, it would end up with him being smacked in the head. He would rather not have that for now. He just wanted to eat and then go fix his puppets without a headache.

Gaara saw that Temari was not going to let it go. He spoke in a calm tone. ''Temari, Kankuro, you should behave in front of our guest,'' he spoke in a tone of finality that left no room for argument. Both his siblings nodded stiffly.

This seemed to amuse Naruto. Temari saw the look on his face, ''What is so funny?''

Naruto shook his head, nothing. ''Quite a family this is,'' he said. But that was not what got him to smile. he was smiling at the fact that before Gaara had changed, his siblings followed his instructions, and even now they still do. The only difference was that he no longer threatened to kill them.

''So, Naruto, how long will you stay here?'' Gaara asked quietly.

''A few days, perhaps a week,'' Naruto responded. ''I want to take advantage of the wind around here to do some ''light'' training.'' He added. It would depended on how long he manages to get something done of his wind technique. He needed to get something done in this kind of place. Still, to perfect it, he would have to come back here and spend perhaps month training.

Gaara nodded, with something akin to a smile forming on his lips. But it was only for a second as it disappeared. But Naruto's perceptive eyes caught it. ''Should I inform the Godaime Hokage of this? You mentioned that you have been eating food from restaurants; by that I would assume that you have not been in Konoha over the past month. And she might not be aware of your visit here.''

Perceptive, Naruto noted. He had not told anyone that he had not been in Konoha over the past month. But Gaara had caught up to it given his little detail. ''Do that. I would not want any unnecessary trouble to come to you over nothing.'' It was highly unlikely, but in the Elemental Nations, one just could not take that chance. It was always for your own good to be perceptive and make precautions. Little things could cause a rift between two villages.

''I will send a messenger bird tomorrow to inform her of your stay,'' Gaara said before something came to his mind. ''Before I forget. The Daimyo said you ought to be at the gate early in the morning tomorrow before she leaves.''

''Did she say what she wanted?'' Naruto asked curiously.

''No,'' Gaara answered shaking his head slightly.

Naruto said nothing on further on the matter. Perhaps she may want to thank him for the services he provided her. It was all right. It was not every day that you find yourself saving the life of a pleasant Daimyo. She was quite an attractive woman, Naruto would agree. Perhaps next time he may get to know her more and see if he can get things to work for the good of the shinobi world.

''How did you even get the Daimyo to like you, Naruto?'' Kankuro questioned. He sounded genially curious. The blond looked at the older teen with a raised eye brow. He wondered why the man seemed so curious about getting a response from him.

''Ah, you have a crush on her,'' He stated. Neither Gaara nor Temari seemed surprised by this. It seemed that they all knew that their brother had a liking to their Daimyo. ''Well for starters; I was not wearing face paint. And I was polite. And the rest, you should ask Temari about how to get woman to like you. I do wonder if she will give you a good advice though.''

''What is that supposed to mean?!'' Temari glared at the blond. She felt insulted by his words. Her glare seemed to have no effect on Naruto though.

''You are Temari,'' Naruto responded as though the answer was obvious. He shifted his attention to Kankuro. ''You should try your luck on other woman though. Miyuki won't go for you.''

Talk about crushing a guy's hopes in one go. ''What is wrong with me?''

''Nothing,'' Naruto responded with a shrug. ''Perhaps if you were Gaara, it would have given you a point. But don't listen to me, I am just saying my thoughts, I don't her too much.''

''Huh? You are nothing special and my father was the Kazekage. Now my brother is the Kazekage. I am also a top jonin in Suna, How can she have a problem with me calling her by her name while she smiles like when you do it?''

''...and a grown man who plays with puppets. Some women do not find that attractive.''

Gaara decided to respond to the question, since it appeared that Naruto was not going to answer. ''You are missing something, Kankuro. Naruto saved her life. And he is the son of the most famous man in the elemental Nations. You also know nothing about his skills. But I am positive he is stronger than you. He did defeat me three years ago while you could not.''

''Unlike before, I am not quite oblivious and I am generally good with people when I want to be. My line of work also dictated that I understand women,'' Naruto added calmly.

Temari scoffed, ''Yeh right,'' she said.

Naruto wisely ignored Temari. He did not want to get into a pointless argument with her. Gaara remembered that the old Naruto would have surely tried to prove Temari wrong. But this one was wise enough to remain calm. ''You have changed a lot, Naruto,'' the Godaime Kazekage stated smoothly.

**The following day**

The sun had yet to take its shift as Naruto stood at the gates of Sunagakure. He was used to waking up this early in the morning, so having to meet with the Daimyo this time was of no bother to him. Gaara had also waken him up. They left together as both headed to their different directions. He would meet with the Kazekage and talk with him after speaking with Miyuki. They did not talk about anything last night; this was a chance to speak since last night had been a night of introductions. After meeting Gaara, he would certainly hit the training grounds. He needed to perfect his jutsu before doing anything else. He had lot of things to improve on as a shinobi. Perhaps the training may help with his troubling thoughts. He had to be careful so not to slip up because of his thoughts. Itachi had trained him better.

Speaking of the Uchiha, he had been busy setting up a spy network for them to use. With Jiraiya's network also working, it would be easy for him to get to know everything that happens around. Jiraiya had also proposed on showing him a few things about spying. He hinted that he had the speed and stealth to be a good spy. There was also the fact he had the brains to make good decisions and not decisions based on his emotions. The Sannin wanted to show him the ropes since he would need someone to succeed him after he retired as a shinobi. Naruto had entertained the thought, given the chance he would take on Jiraiya's offer and look into all of Jiraiya's contacts.

He still had met an interesting fellow that would solve all those problems, but he was keeping his options clear. Nevertheless, as it stood, he would take the offer.

For now, he had to focus on dealing with his wind Jutsus. It was the best element he could manipulate freely and his natural affinity. Wind was his nature, he could flow and move with it. Sunagakure was giving him the chance to perfect his manipulation over the element. Itachi had commented that his manipulation of Wind was far beyond anyone he knew. It was still not enough for Naruto. Even though he could do most wind Jutsus with a single hand seal and some without hand seals, it was still not enough. If he could perfect the wind armor, then he could say that he was satisfied. The Nidaime manipulated water like a god of the **suiton** element; he also wanted to manipulate wind like the god of wind.

Looking back, Naruto saw some Sand jonins, led by the man he recognized as Baki, Gaara's former sensei. Given that the man was probably the strongest jonin in the village, Naruto no doubt knew that the Kazekage was trying to ensure that the Daimyo was kept safe. It would look good for Sand if the woman went back home safely. It was a good move on Gaara to do so. Sunagakure was not very stable, economically. The village was in a good condition, but being in the good books of their Daimyo would get them to thrive even further.

The Daimyo was being was being carried in a luxurious carrier, certainly worthy of a Daimyo. It stopped at the gate and the door opened. ''Come in,'' the woman stated showing Naruto inside. The blond did not hesitate to get in. He noticed that once he got in, the carrier started moving again. He did not question it though. The woman next to him gave him a warm smile and held out her hand. ''Miyuki, Feudal Lord of the Wind Country.''

Naruto took her hand and shook it. ''Namikaze Naruto, Jonin of Konohagakure,'' he stated, introducing himself. They had never gone into the full introductions the first time they met. Naruto figured, the woman wanted to start new.

''It is nice to meet you, Naruto,'' her smile never faltered as she spoke.

''Likewise, Daimyo-sama,'' Naruto responded politely with a small bow of his head. He was certainly not mocking the woman. He was just being polite and respectful to those in higher authority than him.

''Please call me, Miyuki. You have addressed as me such before. There is no need to change that now because you know I am the Daimyo of the Wind country,'' Miyuki stated softly.

Naruto nodded. He did not need to be told twice about that. When someone requested he did something like this he would. He knew that it would make her comfortable, if he called her in the way she wanted. ''I was told that Daimyo's were always males and old folks. I did not know that someone young as yourself would be accepted as the most powerful person in the Wind country.''

Miyuki chuckled softly. ''It was not easy being accepted and mind you, I was still 19 when I assumed the mantle. It took me about two years to get everything in order inside the capital moving looking into other things. But I only became Daimyo because my father had no other children other than me.''

''It must have been a delight being the only child of the Daimyo,'' Naruto said. He had to have spoiled her very much being his only child. But given her age, he could say that her father must have been young, or must have married a young woman to bear his child. If he had been young, then he his death must have been planed or must have died by sickness. It also did not explain her mother. He had never heard her say anything about her mother.

''It was, but not always. Father would have never allowed anyone to rule our country. Even if he was still alive, he would have ensured that I was the one to succeed him.''

**Later that Day (Konoha)**

Orochimaru was happy, no he was ecstatic. He had never been happy like this in all his lengthy life. Ever since he started using his immortality jutsu, he had never been able to use all his full power; he had never been able to use all the techniques he had learned. The main reason was that he did not have the perfect body. The bodies that housed him were fragile and could not contain all his power. It always limited him in battle. But now he no longer had to worry about that. He had an eternal body - A body that could allow him to live as long as he wanted. But he wanted to live eternally; his body would allow him to do that. Life was just better now. He had to thank Kabuto though. He would have never thought of making something like this. Now he could do anything without fear. Not that he ever feared anything to begin with.

''Orochimaru, before my eyes, all your ninjutsu is useless,'' Itachi had stated those words when he had attempted to steal the Uchiha's body. It had been embarrassing to hear that boy rub those words against him. But now he wondered if Itachi would still be able to say those words. He was now in possession of the Sharingan, the very eyes Itachi was proud of, and he could use these eyes very well. Most of his body was created using Hashirama's cells, and also the cells of many powerful men he had studied over the years. The body was also had the same DNA as the weapon's because they each had one thing in common, the power of all nine Bijuus.

He could not help himself from grinning like a madman. He had never felt so alive in his time living. The secrets of the world awaited him. He could not wait to see the look on Danzo's face when he showed the war hawk who was in charge. He did not fear the man, not with all these power. Danzou's own secret power was crafted by him. The man could not surprise him with anything. Yes, he was the perfect being. There was no one who could stop him now. He started laughing, madly, again as he walked within the dark corridors of ROOT ANBU. Danzo was surely waiting for him.

He had been indeed right. The man had known of his presence and ordered his ROOT from attacking him. He allowed the snake sannin to make his way towards him so he could deal with the treacherous snake himself. He could not forgive the snake for what it has done.

''Kukukukukuku kukkukukukuku,'' Orochimaru let loose of a full blown laughter as he saw Danzo looking at him like a hawk. The man saw himself as above him, but he was going to prove the fool wrong. The ROOT commander only narrowed his eyes as Orochimaru started laughing. ''Why the long look Danzo?'' Orochimaru questioned mockingly. He walked further until he was just in front of Danzo - who was sitting on his throne.

''Your arrogance has always been your biggest weakness, Orochimaru,'' Danzo stated calmly, watching Orochimaru closely. ''Do you think I will let you leave this base alive after what you did?''

''What I did?'' Orochimaru questioned innocently. ''What have I done to offend you, Danzo?'' he kept his expression innocent as though he did not know what Danzo was talking about. He was playing as though he was just an innocent man being accused of a crime he did not commit.

Danzo narrowed his eyes. ''You know what I am talking about, Orochimaru,'' he never lost his patience. He knew the Sannin very well to know that he was faking it all. He was just playing. This was all fun for the snake sannin. But he would not indulge in any of Orochimaru's games.

''I do know what you are talking about,'' Danzou could sense a 'but' that was coming, and it came. ''But, I have not yet done anything. Only Kabuto snuck in here. Well he is the best when it comes to infiltration. Infiltrating a place like this was not that of a hard task, especially since he knows it so well.''

''Kabuto works for you. Anything he does is on you. My agents are already searching for him. When they find him, I will deal with him. But first thing first, where is my weapon?''

''Tsk, tsk, Danzo,'' Orochimaru shook his head, never losing his grin as he shook his head. ''As if your agents could ever capture Kabuto even when outnumbered... But as for the weapon, it ran away. If you want it, you can go and look for it. But,'' Orochimaru's grin widened. ''It may kill you as it is uncontrollable.''

Danzo narrowed his eyes further. ''You failed me and then stole from me,'' the ROOT commander stood up and motioned his right hand for his agents to appear. Within seconds, a hundred of shadows surrounded both man. ''You know too much and I cannot allow you to live on.''

''Tying up loose ends aren't we, Danzou?'' Orochimaru did not seem to be concerned by the appearance of the Ne agents. In fact, he seemed to get slightly excited. ''Let me show you that you are nothing compared to me Danzo,'' with that the Sharingan flared to life, surprising the ROOT agents, but not Danzo. ''But don't worry, I am feeling merciful today, I won't kill your dogs.'' With that the Sannin turned towards the Root agents. He gave him a malicious grin. ''Shall we?''

Minutes later

''That was rather entertaining. But it was to be expected on ROOT ANBU,'' Orochimaru stated re-growing his left arm which had been cut off. Most of the ROOT Anbus were lying down on the floor, unconscious. Some had been accidentally killed because Orochimaru got a little too excited. Only two were remaining standing, they were Danzo's personal guards. They were standing next to their master.

Danzou appeared calm in the outside. But deep inside, he was seething. This was an embarrassment, one he could not permit. How dare that snake do that to him?! He would make Orochimaru pay for his. This great blasphemy could not go unpunished. Orochimaru would pay for this humiliation, he swore it.

''Stay away from Kabuto, that is if you know what is good for you. For now, I am happy with just watching you play around in Konoha. I am interested in seeing if you will succeed in becoming Hokage,'' Orochimaru took out a file and threw it at the war hawk. ''That file contains all the data I have been able to get on Naruto-kun, and all his fighting stats. I am sure you will find it worthwhile.''

Orochimaru gave a mock bow to Danzo. ''Until next time, Danzo-sama,'' what followed then was another chilling laughter that echoed throughout the base as the snake sannin disappeared into thin air.

''Should we pursue him, Danzo-sama?''

''No,'' Danzo shook his head slightly. ''His day will come.'' He sat down calmly. "Prepare my visit to the feudal Lord."

"Hai, Danzo-sama"

**That concludes chapter 12. I will post chapter 13 next week. **

**Admit it; you were not expecting a young female like Miyuki to be the feudal Lord of the wind country. **

**I have plans for Sasuke, but he will not be seen much in the story, until later on. I won't say much about it though. I was having some trouble on how I was going to deal with him that is why I had kept him within the shadows of Konoha. While in the shadows, he can come out smelling like roses or just plain evil.**

**Naruto x Miyuki may or may not happen. **

**And no Konan, neither Yugito. **

**I will be honest with how I invented Miyuki; the green hair is after CC, from Code Geass, and Miyuki from Tatsuya's sister in Mahouka…. whatever. And the rest was me and some of Mei's personality.**

**Pervysage; thanks for the note. I will take that into consideration. **

**People have different thoughts about the weapon, and what its functionality will be. Well, you will have to just wait and see what troubles Orochimaru's pet will be causing in this story. **

**Sir Robert Mulaudzi **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Finally, Naruto was home. It had been more than a month since he had been to this place. He had missed home. The moment he left Sunagakure, he flashed towards his house using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Since there was nothing else to see along the way, he decided it was best to just teleport back to Konoha.

He had surely missed the comfort of his house, the smell of the house. He missed seeing the smiles of his parents. Looking at those portraits, he knew that where ever they were, they would surely be proud of him. Parents loved their children and were always proud of them. Some parents even continued to love their children even when they end up being evil people. It was because their love was unconditional. Well that is how it was supposed to be.

He would never experience the love of a mother or a father since both his parents were dead. But the fact that they died protecting Konoha pleased him. It pleased him to know that his parents loved him. Even when his father cursed him with the burden of carrying the Kyuubi in his gut, he knew the man loved him. He would have wished for them to be alive so that they could have family moments like what the sand siblings do. He had no blood family, no one to call a brother or a sister. Itachi was the closest thing to a brother he had.

But it was certainly different knowing that no matter how much Itachi loved him, it was nothing compared to how Itachi loved his brother. But he was not worried about that. He would make his own bonds and continue to live on.

Bonds always help shape us. Without family, or those to be close around, one would surely be driven to despair, especially as a shinobi. He had those who were close to him, he had those he cared for and those who cared for him. That was all he needed now. He could not complain about life being unfair or anything. There were other people who had no one. Well, he had no one in the beginning, but he formed some bonds while at the academy. Forming emotional bonds with other people helped you stay grounded. One could not stand alone in this world. It was a cruel world, and without someone to have your back, you were doomed to suffer a horrible death.

The shinobi world was that way.

The stay in Suna had been pleasant; he had spent a total of 8 days within the village. He had spent much time with the Sand siblings and they got along quite well. During day, he would always train in his wind manipulation. He never asked Gaara for anything in that regard because he knew it would be asking too much from the Kazekage. It was not that he needed any help. He did not need anyone to give him tips as he had already cleared those stages.

What concerned him was perfecting his control over the wind element - he did not need anything more. He could think of adding more jutsus, but the number of jutsus did not matter much if you could not execute them perfectly. Not every opponent will give you the opportunity to throw a jutsu at him. The thing that mattered most was timing and execution.

Well, he did not have to worry about speed - He had plenty of that. But he was not too confident enough to become arrogant to believe that he was the fastest man in the world and that no one could match him in speed. There were shinobi who were speed freaks. He had seen Gai and Lee move. Those two were extremely fast, especially Gai. That is saying when he was still wearing his weights and his Gates not yet opened. With the training Lee had been doing over the past months, he was surely going to become much faster than he had been. He had been doing nothing to increase his speed. He was more interested in perfecting his control over the wind element.

His arsenal was also fine. He had plenty of jutsus; there was no need to be learning new when he still needed to do two hand seals to perform some jutsus. Hashirama was rumored to be capable of doing jutsus without even weaving hand seals, so was Tobirama. Those two had a far superior control over chakra, especially Tobirama. Perhaps it came with the Senju genes. Well, Uzumaki were also related to the Senju so, if a Senju could do it, so could an Uzumaki. He just had to become a lot more dedicated and endure. It was not easy given his massive chakra output, but it was also not impossible. So he would strive to succeed with all his might. He still had a long way to go in his shinobi career.

Naruto shook his head as an image came up to him. He looked at the picture of his father into the eyes and smile sadly. ''How did you manage to weight of knowing that you ended someone's life, father?'' as obvious, the portrait gave no response.

Naruto waited for a few moments as though he was expecting to it to respond to his question. After a few moments, he shook his head again before placing the portrait on the wall where it was always hanging. He walked towards his desk and sat on his chair before opening a drawer. He took out the scripts for his book, he had not written anything. But during his travels, he had been able to gather some materials to continue working on it. His experiences had taught him much. He would add that to give his book a bit of spice.

Perhaps he would finish it sooner rather than later. He was even thinking of remaining it. It had to include a bit more of romance and pain. He knew pain very well, but he had been lacking in terms of experience with romance. During his travels, he had caught glimpse of it. He could now right something a bit more realistic as he would pour some of his experiences into his writing. He was even thinking of changing the title to ''After Today''. He wanted this title because the lives we live today and our actions today help shape the day that comes. The experience we experience today help us ''after today'' which is tomorrow. "After Today" also deals with the hopes of tomorrow. So the title seemed fitting. His fuinjutsu book would need maybe two weeks to be completed. He already had some notes of a few seals he invented while he was training with Itachi.

Before, Naruto could write anything, he remembered that he had yet to inform Tsunade that he had returned. The woman would give him hell if he did not tell her that he was home. She would probably put him into the hospital for doing something like that. As far as he was concerned, no one knew that he had returned. It was better to go there now. He could continue with his book when he returns. He would have some time, especially with some sleepless nights that hunt him.

Sighing, Naruto disappeared in a yellow flash

**Tsunade's office**

It was not the least surprising when Naruto appeared in the office that he found Tsunade speaking with Jiraiya. The two seemed to get well when other people were not around. But when there were other people, it was another matter. It was not to say that they did not get well when other people were around. No they always got along. It was just that with other people, they were not much civil. But if you caught them drinking sake together, you would think they were an old married couple. The thought was amusing though, given that they were old.

Tsunade was right next to him in a second suffocating him in a crushing hug. He did not say anything though; she merely hugged him for a few moments before allowing him to breathe freely. The blonde Hokage then walked behind her desk with a small smile on her face. ''I am glad you are back safely, Naruto. How was your stay at Suna?''

''Pleasant,'' Naruto answered simply. He saw the look the Godaime gave him and realized that she was not happy with his short answer. She wanted something more. ''The Sand siblings were very welcoming and the Sand villagers were kind to anyone who is a friend to their Kazekage. I had a pleasant time in the village. Though I detest the heat in the desert, I found the village quite refreshing. I would not mind spending another week or month there.''

His last words were a surprise to both Sannins. They had not expected him to enjoy his stay at the village to even think of going back there to live for a month. Tsunade had expected Gaara to get well with Naruto given that the former spoke well of the blond. She had been happy when she received a letter from Gaara saying that Naruto was at his village. She knew it would be good for Naruto to spend much time with his fellow Jinchuriki. But still, for him to say that he would not mind returning to the village to spend a month there was unexpected. But it was nothing to panic about.

Jiraiya had a different train of through than with Tsunade. ''Oh? I heard you were getting close to the Kazekage's sister. It is said you would also spend the whole day in a training ground with her,'' the self-proclaimed super pervert grinned. ''Did she treat you that well that you can't stay away from her for too long?''

Naruto sighed. On any other day, he would have ignored this question. Jiraiya always liked to sprout nonsense like this. But he chose to indulge the Sannin, just this once. ''It is not want you think, Jiraiya. I was merely helping her with some wind jutsus. And I don't think Gaara would have appreciated anyone violating his sister.''

Jiraiya's expression became that of a disappointed one. ''You are never going to get lucky if you keep taking each girl you meet into the training ground,'' his disappointment was also clear in his tone.

''Did you ever think of doing ''something'' with her?'' surprisingly, the question came from Tsunade. She asked the question as she heard his last words. And she was also interested in confirming something. Jiraiya had already told her that Naruto had befriended Yugito, but nothing had happened between them. It also seems to be the same with Temari. If it was, then she would have to do a check up on him to see if everything was alright with him. She wanted grandchildren, and she would not get them if Naruto did not like women.

Naruto merely raised an eye brow to show his surprise at such a question from Tsunade. But he answered her anyway. ''Temari is quite beautiful, but no.''

''That's it Jiraiya. I am taking him to the hospital after this,'' Tsunade said almost immediately. The toad sage seemed to agree with her on whatever they were talking about.

''Amusing,'' Naruto said drawing the attention of both Sannins. ''Because I have yet to show any interest in women since I returned from my training, you now think something is wrong with me.''

''Any concerned parent who wants grandchildren will think like this,'' Tsunade defended herself. If Naruto winged the other way, she would not have little blonds running over to her calling her baa-chan like Naruto used to. She wanted Naruto to have a good family of his own. He was still young to be married, but that did not mean that he did not have to date.

''I doubt you would even approve of anyone I would like,'' Naruto stated before shrugging his shoulders carelessly. ''I have no problems. There is no need for me to be checked like I am sick or something.''

''Naruto, in about two months you will be turning 17, and you have yet to find yourself a nice girl. All your peers have started dating, and you still have not,'' Perhaps she was listening to Jiraiya too much. He was the one who suggested about such a topic. She never cared or thought of it. All she cared for was Naruto's safety. But the Sannin had put up some good points about what dating would do to the blonds' mental health.

Naruto had not realized that his 17th birthday was coming soon. He had left the village when he was already 13 and then spent three years with Itachi. Time was moving fast. The 10th of October, how different would it be this year? Shaking his head, the blond spoke, ''I had only come here to inform you that I had returned. Since that is all over, I will be taking my leave now.''

Before the blond could leave, Jiraiya spoke. ''Before you leave, have a sit. We have some important matters to discuss with you,'' the Sannin stated in a slight serious tone.

Naruto nodded and sat down. ''What is it?'' he said folding his hands across his chest.

''Naruto, I trust you with my life. But you have to inform me sometimes when you are going to do something so I can protect you better. It will not help either of us if you do things without telling me and I have to find out about it,'' Tsunade stated in a quite yet firm tone. She did not mention specifically what Naruto had done. She wanted to get to it, but she did not want Naruto to think that she was suspecting him of anything.

''This is about my visit to Amegakure, is not it?'' Naruto questioned knowing that Tsunade might have been referring to it. He had not done anything that would make her say those words except for his visit to Amegakure. He knew that the village and Konoha were not in the best of relations, but they were not fighting either. The villages avoided each other in all ways.

He also had other activities he had been doing through his clones while he had been away, but he did not think that the Godaime would have caught up to that. He had covered his tracks well, but then again, Jiraiya was a spy master. He learned never to underestimate the man's information gathering abilities. But given all the precautions he had taken, it would not come out soon before he breaks it out to these two important people.

So it had to be Amegakure since he never hid his visit

Both Sannins nodded. ''Why did you not tell me you were going there? I could have gone with you,'' Jiraiya stated. His tone was not suggesting anything. He was just curious as to why his godson chose to visit Amegakure on his own without him. He could have surely gone with him after he had dealt with a few businesses with his contacts. It had been long for him since he entered the rain village. It had been closed for years; there was a rumor that it had been opened, he just never gone to confirm it.

''I wanted to go alone,'' Naruto responded. ''But I apologize if my visit to Amegakure has caused any troubles. I did not think that it would.''

He needed to speak with Konan alone without Jiraiya gawking over his thought dead student. The man could go and gawk over the woman on his own time. He and Konan had other matters to deal with. And he also needed to conduct some things on his own. He did not need Jiraiya to be backing him up in everything he did. Going there alone had been Itachi's idea so he could clear his head. How could he clear his head if he was with Jiraiya? The man always had something to say.

''But you could have told Jiraiya about it. I had to hear it from someone that you had entered the Rain borders,'' Tsunade stated, not mentioning the fact that it had been Danzo who told her about it. She had reason to believe that the old war hawk had a motive behind this revelation. Jiraiya had also mentioned to her that Naruto did not attempt his presence given the way he entered the village. But Danzo had left that little detail.

''So Danzo informed you,'' Naruto stated, drawing looks from the two former teammates. But Naruto ignored the looks. ''You fear he is planning something or he may have had a reason for telling you this,'' the blond then concluded, earning a nod from his fellow blonde. Naruto was not surprised. Itachi had filled him with so much about the man. Itachi had worked with him to know how he did business. He had been warned.

''I am not positive, but knowing him, he might be plotting something,'' Tsunade leaned back to her chair, suddenly looking tired. But the expression only lasted for a few seconds. It disappeared as she looked back at Naruto.

''In any case, it is best to be prepared. And Naruto, you must inform us before you do something like this. You already left on your own for three years. Do not think that the council has forgotten about it. Danzo might just find anything to use against you if you keep doing things like this,'' Jiraiya added in a calm tone. Any tone he used on the blond would get his message through. He trusted the blond had grown enough to know when there is danger. And he was not surprised when Naruto spoke.

''I will ensure to inform you next time,'' he sighed. ''The council is rather noisy about things that do not concern them,'' the blond added in a tone dripping with distaste. He did not quite clearly dislike everyone in the council. But there were three elders he disliked. He had met them on a few occasions when he was younger. That time, the Sandaime had been still alive. It was those days when he would budge into the office without knocking.

''Good. The old you might have tried to argue with us. But it seems that your reasoning has also grown too,'' Tsunade said, sounding a little proud, even though she did not contribute anything to his growth, she was still happy. ''So what were you doing there?''

''I was meeting someone,'' Naruto responded quietly. ''The leader of the village,'' he added seeing that the Sannins had given him expressions that told him to continue. He was sure that neither of them knew who the leader of Amegakure was. It had been a closely guarded secret that not even Jiraiya's spy network was able to uncover.

''Who is he? Last time I heard, there was a civil war within the village and Hanzo was supposedly killed,'' Jiraiya said. He seemed not to believe that Hanzo was indeed killed in the civil war. But he did not know if the man was still alive or not.

''She, to be precise - You know her very well, Jiraiya,'' Naruto stated looking at the Sannin.

Jiraiya seemed to be going through names and images within his head. But he came out blank. He could not think of anyone who he knew that could lead Amegakure. Everyone he knew that was from the village had been killed long ago. But Naruto seemed confident that he knew who the person was. ''Who is it?''

He was certainly going to enjoy seeing the look on Jiraiya's face. ''Konan.''

''...''

''Be serious Naruto. Last time I heard about her, she was killed along with Nagato and Yahiko long ago before you were even born. How can she be alive after all these years?''

''Konan is very much alive. That was just a false rumor.''

''Unbelievable,'' Jiraiya muttered. ''So how is she? Has she grown into a beautiful woman? Last time I saw her she was this beautiful girl.''

Naruto did not respond to that. He looked back at Tsunade. ''Is there anything else?''

''What business did you have with Konan, Ame's leader? We have not gotten any contact within the village in years. Though, some of the genins from the village did participate in the chunin exams three years ago. Sensei sent a letter there inviting them to the exams. They responded, but since the exams, there has been nothing,'' Tsunade said. Not that she had even tried to get in contact with the leader of the village. She had been busy focusing on Konoha and its allies. As long as there was no trouble, she was not worried about anything.

Naruto smiled slightly. ''Some personal business,'' the blond responded coolly.

Jiraiya raised an eye brow. ''Isn't she a little older for you, Naruto?''

Naruto chose to ignore that question. Just because he said personal, did not mean that he was talking about something that Jiraiya was thinking. He had gone to know Konan at a personal level, amongst other things. The woman had been hesitant but she shared with him the story of the Amegakure orphans. ''Don't worry, Hokage-sama, it is nothing that will harm the village. Sometime in the future, my visit will benefit Konoha.''

''I am not worried about you doing anything that would harm Konoha. I know you too well to know that you will do something that will be bad for Konoha. The thought never crossed my mind. As I said before, I trust you with my life and the safety of the village just as I trust Jiraiya,'' Tsunade responded clearing the air. She would never dare think Naruto would do anything.

''Your trust is not misplaced, baa-chan,'' Naruto responded smiling. It would be one of this moments that he would choose to call Tsunade baa-chan. It was best for calming the nerves and putting the Hokage at ease. It was also good for showing Tsunade that he was still there.

Tsunade smiled affectionately, so did Jiraiya. ''I hope so,'' she said. She then smiled and opened a drawer from her desk. She pulled out an envelope and a small piece of paper. She first handed Naruto the piece of paper. ''It came from the Wind Daimyo,'' she said never losing her smile.

Naruto took it and raised an eye brow. It was a cheque of 3 million Ryo. Naruto had not thought that she would not do something like this. He did not need money. His parents had left him some money that he would use as he wanted. The money would not last forever, but doing missions would get him paid something. And he had another source of large amounts of money. He was just having some troubles in accessing it.

''I had told her that her money was not needed,'' the blond said. She had spoken to him when she was leaving Sunagakure. He had spoken with her for quite some time before he left her to be on her way back to her home.

''On another letter that was addressed to me, she figured you would say something like. But she said to tell you that she insists,'' Tsunade explained lightly. She did not know who would refuse such money. 3mil ryo was a lot of money. It was money she did not earn.

Naruto sighed. ''I wish she had not done this. But I have no doubt 3mil has done nothing to dent her deep pockets. This kind of money to her may be like a hundred ryo,'' the blond stated, while still looking at the cheque.

''If you have no use for it, you can hand it to me, I will use it in a productive manner,'' Tsunade offered with a pink tint painting her cheeks. It was obvious she was embarrassed about something. Naruto was quick to conclude what wanted to do with the money.

''…No doubt that you want to settle some of your outstanding gambling debts and to get yourself a new stash of sake,'' Naruto said casually. Tsunade was still paying her debts in gambling. She had made a lot of debts while she was away from Konoha. Her mantle as Hokage required that she pay her debts or she would have people all over the Elemental Nations coming over to Konoha demanding that she pay her debts.

''If you have no use for the money, it is better to give it to someone who needs it,'' Tsunade responded calmly. If one did not need the money, what was the use of keeping it? Would it not be better to give it to someone who needs it? In this case, she needed it.

Jiraiya cleared his throat the get the attention of the two. ''Why would the Wind Daimyo give Naruto money?'' Tsunade had yet to tell him anything about Naruto's relations with the Wind Daimyo. One could forgive his question. The Godaime had decided it was best to tell him about it once Naruto had returned.

Tsunade smiled as she responded. ''Naruto, here, somehow found himself saving her life before he took her to Sunagakure safely. It also seems that he left a good impression on her,'' she explained, with her smile getting wider. This worked well for Konoha. If Naruto got well with the leader of the Wind country, this would mean that Konoha will have good relations with the country.

''He did that, huh?'' Jiraiya seemed impressed. ''I have heard of her beauty, but I have yet to see her myself since she spends most of her time at the Wind capital,'' the man then narrowed his eyes at the blond. Perhaps he was not hopeless after all. But he would have to see the woman himself to believe her beauty. Still, he did not ignore how this will benefit the Konoha.

''I have not seen her myself,'' Tsunade said. But she knew of her. But she was getting the feeling that she would meet the woman soon. The Godaime looked at Naruto expertly for him to explain some things about the woman to them. She did notice that the blond had not planned to tell anything, but since the situation was like this, he was going to answer.

''She is a wonderful young woman, beautiful and likeable.'' That was the response Naruto gave. The Sannins had been thinking he would give more of that. But he just gave them a short reply. There was also nothing on his face for them to read what he was thinking. It was bother disappointing since they wanted to see what he thought of the Wind Daimyo.

''Well, as long as you say she is a likeable person, I will believe it,'' Tsunade said sighing. She had no reason to believe that Naruto would lie about that. She did not even think that the blond would lie to her. If he did not want to say anything, he would keep quite rather than to lie to her.

Naruto handed Tsunade the cheque. ''Take it,'' the woman seemed to brighten up at this. ''When you cash it, Transfer 1mil ryo to my account,'' the blond stated as Tsunade grasped the piece of paper gracefully. ''Is there anything more?''

''Yes, actually,'' Tsunade said brining out an envelope. She handed it to Naruto. The blond took the envelope and pocket it without saying anything. He was not going to open it in front of them. If it was sealed, it meant that it was for his eyes. ''It is from the Wind Daimyo.'' Naruto nodded but said nothing. ''Aren't you going to open it?''

''I will open it later,'' Naruto responded with a slight wave of his right hand. It was better for him if he did it that way. He knew that both Sannins would question him about its contents once he opens it. He would tell them until then if it concerned them. But until then, he would do nothing.

Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade seemed to object to this. ''On to the next matter,'' Tsunade started with her tone becoming serious, her expression did not betray her tone. ''I have decided to take advantage of your inherited fame for the good of Konoha,'' the Hokage stated bluntly.

''You mean ''son of the Yellow Flash''?'' Naruto questioned with a raised brow. Given that he was the son of Konoha's greatest hero, he was bound to become famous once everyone knew who his identity. People had already suspected this, and he has done nothing to prove things otherwise. Konoha had yet to say a thing on the matter. Iwagakure seemed to have figured it out well since he had some Iwa shinobi trying to take his life.

Tsunade nodded. ''I have done nothing to either confirm or deny of suspicions that Minato was your father. But because this will benefit Konoha, I have decided that I will confirm it to everyone that you are the son of Minato and Kushina.''

''But you must also know that this will give you enemies. Minato had a lot of enemies during his life times, once it has been officially confirmed that you are related to him, you will have a lot of enemies too coming after you to erase the last Namikaze from existence,'' Jiraiya added after Tsunade had spoken. He also spoke in the same tone as Tsunade. This just spoke to signify the importance of the matter.

''Normally, with the threat to your life going to increase, I would not have agreed to do something like this. But I know that even if I don't say anything, everyone will know the truth soon enough. It is best it comes from me when I am prepared to deal with everything. Jiraiya has convinced me that you can handle yourself well and I trust his judgment,'' Tsunade spoke again after her former teammate had spoken. Her tone stayed serious. It pained her to put Naruto's life at risk, but there was nothing she could actually do about it. Jiraiya had said it was okay to allow the brat to grow up.

Naruto nodded. ''I understand that,'' he said quietly. ''How are you going to take advantage of my inherited fame?'' He asked his eyes firmly on the blonde Hokage. He wanted to know how she was going to capitalize on this. If it had been his choice, he would not have chosen to do so because he did not want to stay under his father's shadow. He wanted to rise to his own fame. But it just could not be helped.

''I have spoken with Jiraiya and I have decided to make you an ambassador of Konoha. You will also represent the village in some places where you will be sent in negotiating treaties. While I stay inside the village, you will be sent and travel to villages to discuss treaties, peace talks and alliances with other villages on my behalf. Normally this would be done by me, but the clan heads have agreed that it will be best if you did. But you don't have any final say on anything. You are just a representative, I hold the final say.

That is not all; you will also be my personal guard along with Kakashi whenever I leave the village, sometimes. As part of your training to be the next Hokage after me, you will be my second assistant; this means that when you not in missions, you will be in the mission room with me assigning missions.

This is not something you have a choice in. You will take it. But I doubt you would have thought of refusing the offer.'' That was not particularly true. Naruto had a choice in the matter. She just wanted to see how he would respond if she said he had no choice. But he did not mean to be mad about it. He seemed to take the offer with a warm smile.

Naruto was quite for a few moments before he finally responded. ''I will take the offer with no complains,'' he was actually smiling as he spoke. This worked better for him. It was a golden opportunity. This gave him a much more visible field to work on. The Gods might have screwed his life back then, but it seemed that they were trying to make it up.

This would just mean more success when he visits his next ''targets''. It was a good choice leave Kiri for another after all.

''Good,'' Tsunade smiled. ''We will discuss everything after I have confirmed with the clan heads of your decision. You can go now.''

Naruto nodded and disappeared from the office. Tsunade turned to Jiraiya sensing something from him. ''I need to tell you something, hime,'' he said with a serious expression on his face.

**Later that day**

An invitation to an even that is to be held within the Wind country; There was going to be some powerful man like business man all over the Wind country. The Kazekage and was also going to be there. It was an occasion that looked like a feast more than anything. There was usually going to be some food available there and some people mingling around. There was going to be a dance that will be having everyone in the dance floor dancing with their partners. The thought brought Naruto to smile.

He wondered who Gaara would take to the ball. The man did not seem to be interested in women. It would be amusing if he ended up in the dance floor with his sister. The event was going to be held in three weeks, so he had time to learn how to dance. The Daimyo had said that the money was to buy him something expensive to wear. He would have to get something since he had no formal clothes in his wardrobe.

Well, it seemed that the event would not be so much dull with a few powerful people in attendance. He did like spending his time talking some important business. It would give him an opportunity to study the behavior of several key people that may find themselves in his plans.

Naruto sighed as he opened his small bag and took out some papers, ink and a brush. He was currently on top of the Hokage monument. It had yet to become dark, but within three hours, darkness would fill the village. It was all the time he needed. Within three hours, he could have written some words, many if there are no interruptions. He may find himself working all night if things go in the way they had been in the past few days. Perhaps if he finished his book quickly, he would get himself a publisher to publish his work. He would speak with Jiraiya since the man was in the literature department. The man had to have connections in the publishing business. This would make things easy for him if the Sannin could help him. He would not have the need to look for a trustworthy publisher.

Naruto began to write as the cool breeze the environment breathed washed over his skin. It was not too much of a bother to him. He had come here because he knew the breeze would not miss the chance to massage his body with its kisses. This all but made it writing worth at the place comfortable. Not that he was uncomfortable at his house.

Two hours passed as he was writing. But just because he was engrossed in his writing did not mean that his senses had been sleeping. No, it was by far that. He was still aware of his surrounding despite seemingly oblivious to it. Because of this, he was able to sense two chakra signatures hiding from him. They had been watching him for about 30 minutes. They did not exactly come at the same time. But when they got here, they stayed hidden together. Naruto had waited for them to make a move while he kept himself busy with his book. But when he found it annoying, he stopped writing and put away his things inside his bag before speaking.

''Kakashi, Sakura,'' Naruto called like he was calling them to come inside of a house. Well, he could say they had been standing outside waiting for him to invite them. Now that he did, the two slowly made their way towards him.

''Hello, Naruto,'' Sakura greeted him a little bit nervous as she sat down on his left. She may have been a little nervous because she had been caught. Kakashi did not sit down, he chose to remain standing on Naruto's right side. In greeting, he merely gave the blond his iconic eye smile.

''Sakura,'' Naruto responded, his eyes not looking at his former teammate. He was looking down the village. The lights had already begun to be turned on. Soon, there would be darkness all over the lights would be shining beautifully when watching from afar. The sight would certainly be beautiful to watch. He always enjoyed his time here at the monument. It always brought him peace and calmed his nerves.

How Sakura missed him calling her Sakura-chan. He used to call her with so much love during those days. A pity she never returned any of that love. She always yelled at him and hit him, hard. But at least Naruto did not seem to hate her for it. In fact, she never apologized for her past behavior. And now she was just Sakura.

Kakashi decided to speak seeing both teens quite. ''I was told that you had returned earlier, and thought I would see how you were doing,'' the jonin said looking at the blond at the corner of his eyes. That was when he found Sakura - who was told of Naruto's return by Tsunade.

''Ah, Kakashi, always worried about your former student,'' Naruto responded. He did not sound the slightest sarcastic even though the remark might be interpreted as sarcastic. Naruto knew that Kakashi worried, he just hid it well under that laid back attitude.

''Any sensei would be worried Naruto. Especially if you cared for your students,'' Kakashi responded with a nonchalant tone as though he just spoke trivial words. But that was not the truth. He was just like that since his, years ago.

''I am not disagreeing with you.'' Naruto said. He was merely stating a fact, and not being sarcastic about the matter. But Kakashi should understand that well.

''I know.'' Kakashi responded calmly.

''How have you been anyway? We don't get much time to talk these days since there is always something to do,'' Naruto spoke, eyeing the jonin at the corner of his eye.

As expected, Kakashi shrugged in response. ''Good.'' But he was glad that Naruto has taken notice of the fact that they were drifting apart.

''That is good,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''What have you been busy with, are you thinking of taking a new team?''

''No,'' Kakashi responded. ''After the disaster with Team 7, I don't I'm fitted to be a sensei.''

''From what I know, Team 7 was your first team to lead. You can't always get them right at your first try. Given your failure in Team 7, I am positive that you have learned much. See, experiences teach us a lot of things. Due to your failure, you now know where to go because you have seen where you have gone wrong. I believe that it is a matter of self belief and confidence. If you have learned, then you will do better if you do take a team.''

Kakashi did not know what to say. And so he settled for saying, ''I don't think I am suited to be a sensei.'' He repeated the same words he had said before.

''Perhaps, or you are just afraid that you will fail again,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''For what is worth, Team 7 just had massive egos that should not have been put together in the first place. If it had been a normal team, and you took your job as a sensei seriously, you would have made a good teacher. I am sure that teamwork excises were not all that my father taught you. If you had followed his example things might have been different, but the outcome would have stayed the same.''

Kakashi smiled. Naruto had said to him more than anyone ever did. ''You should be the one to become a sensei then, Naruto.''

''I already have taken a student. Unfortunately, a team would be too much for me given all the tasks I have to do. But you should come and help me sometimes. If you combine the life lessons your taught us and the training you gave Sasuke during the Chunin exams, you would do great.''

''Thank you, Naruto,'' Kakashi said smiling at Naruto. ''Your father would be truly proud.'' He then looked at Sakura before sighing. ''Well, I will see you tomorrow, Naruto, Sakura. Ja ne,'' with that, the famed Sharingan no Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the two teens alone.

It seemed to him that Sakura wanted to speak with Naruto. He had just given her the room to speak. Former teammates needed to settle some issues. He would not stand between that. He would not be doing a good job if he did that.

Some silence settled before Sakura broke it. ''The view is quite lovely from here, isn't it?'' she spoke softly with a ghost smile spreading across her face.

''Yes, it is,'' Naruto responded calmly. The view was indeed eye-catching from up here. It was even more special when you watched the sun set. It was a view that brought a warm smile to his heart. ''I have been coming here since I was little. It always is lovely.''

Still, he knew that Sakura wanted to say something to him. She was trying to build her confidence while testing the water to see if she could speak her words. Naruto did not really like this kind of conversation. He liked when one was always straightforward, just as he was.

Silence settled again.

And again, Sakura broke it. ''Naruto, do you hate me?''

The blond sighed. This was going to be a long night. She never asked him the kind of question before he left with Jiraiya. Perhaps she was asking because since he returned from his three year training leave, he had kept his distance from everyone. The people he saw regularly were Gai and Lee since he trained with them. And he never had one of this moments when he was alone with the girl. Well, he could not runaway from everyone forever.

**The following day**

After destroying the forest around him with wind jutsus, Naruto decided to sit down under one tree that had been left standing. He had his notes close to him as he continued on with his book. It had been a long day for him. He had to go through a lot of things with Tsunade and the clan heads. They wanted someone who knew the village's history and laws by heart to represent them. He had to go through so many files with Tsunade, and he had been given his own office within the Hokage tower. He would be using it for his own work as a representative of the village.

And as Tsunade's second assistant, there were things that Tsunade was not going to have to go through herself. The work of the Hokage had been reduced. She would no longer be doing every little thing like assigning C-rank missions to genins. Such things would be handled by him. It was a promotion on his side. But he would be working with Shizune since she was Tsunade's first assistant.

And since he would travel a lot, it was obvious that he would be having much work to do. But it seems that this also has put him at another place. He will no longer be taking much participating in missions that include fighting; rather, he will be spending much of his time talking and sweet-talking other people. Since they seemed to realize he had a way to get people to like him, they decided to take advantage of this fact and use him. He had no complains. But he guessed that the only person who was happiest was Tsunade. He would no longer spend much time in the battlefield that ought to please the woman. She would rather have him sit behind a desk than be on the battle field.

Of course, Not everything went smoothly as the elders of the village were against the idea of giving a child this kind of power and responsibility. They would rather have someone experienced to do the job. Surprisingly, Danzo had remained quiet about the whole matter. Naruto had not counted the war hawk to remain quite given such a proposal by Tsunade. Even amongst the head clans, not everyone was happy with him. But Tsunade had shut everyone who had a problem with it. She told them she was the Hokage, thus had the finally say in everything. Her decision was final, and everyone had to accept it. She had a rather stern look when she stated something like that during the meeting. This of course had shut up everyone, well not everyone.

Elder Koharu had the audacity to say that Tsunade was making the decision based on her emotional attachment towards him. The old woman had received a very terrifying glare from Tsunade. If looks could kill, the woman would have been killed by the look Tsunade gave him. He had remained quite during the whole thing. He would have spoken, but Shikaku beat him to it. The man pointed out the pros and cons of giving him his office. The man also stated that with the right mentorship, the pros outweighed the cons and it could benefit Konoha in the long run.

Tsunade had called the meeting to a close after that, but not before speaking her final words. ''If anyone does not see the benefit of this decision, perhaps they are not in touch with time and need to retire. But someone who plans for the future and does allow personal vendettas to cloud his/her judgment will agree with my decision.'' No word needed to be said, as everyone cleared out.

His office was still being furnished to his liking. He had given the people who could be furnishing, a picture of the design. He wanted something special, not something that be normal.

After everything, he had decided to blow up some steam by destroying some trees. After that, he decided to continue with his book. Beside him was a bottle of sake. The bottle seemed normal, but it was not ordinary sake within the bottle. It was sake from the land of Toads. He had gotten it from Gamabunta a few months ago. It was funny that Jiraiya was never given the sake, despite the toads being like his family. According to the toads, the Sannin had only drank it long ago.

Gamabunta had even said that if he wanted more all he had to do was ask. The toad chief had said so after he had seen that he could hold his liquor. Tsunade would probably kill him if she found out he had this sake in his house and was keeping it away from her. He had just poured enough on a bottle when coming here and kept the rest locked safely. It had been the first time he drank it since he was given it.

A few hours later, Naruto was still in the forest of death, but he was no longer writing. He had completed all that he needed to write. That is not to say that the book was complete. He still had a few things to add before he could finish it. What he was doing now, was drinking the sake slowly with a absentminded expression on his face. Anyone who saw him would know that he was clearly not within Konoha. He seemed to be a million miles away from the village.

The expression disappeared quickly, though, as he sensed someone. He did not move or try to look for the person. He knew the person would show herself to him. He recognized the chakra signature very well. Just then Anko appeared before him with a grin planted across her face. ''You,'' she said recalling her last encounter. She wanted to bring it up again, but she saw that he was drinking and only grinned further. ''What is a gaki like you drinking out here alone?'' her grin seemed to widen as Naruto's eyes laid firmly on her.

''Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru's former pupil, otherwise known as the sadistic snake mistress,'' he paused for a moment to examine her expression. He noticed that she does not like Orochimaru. And she also seemed to prideful of being called the sadistic snake mistress. ''Will drop that facade and join me for a drink?'' it did not sound like a request at all, and Anko was quick to note that.

''Why would I do that?'' The woman questioned, still looking straight at Naruto, her eyes narrowing with a glint of mischievousness.

''I don't know,'' Naruto responded with a shrug of his shoulders. He then threw her the bottle of sake. The man caught it and sniffed it before taking a sip. She seemed to like what she had tasted because after that, she sat down beside him and took another sip.

''Where did you get this staff?'' she questioned, never letting go of the bottle in her hands. The smile Naruto told her she was not going to get an answer. ''I thought you were just drinking some juice. But this staff is just great. How are you not stoned after drinking much of this?'' she was referring to an empty bottle that was beside the blond. It also seemed like he had been within the forest of quite some time now.

''I can hold my liquor,'' Naruto responded coolly. That was not entirely true. But he was not going to explain the inner workings of his body to Anko. It was best she knew just that. He did not fear her knowing about his status as a Jinchuriki as he was aware that every adult knew of it. His generation was the one deprived of such information. Anko responded by saying something about seeing which of them was better at holding down their liquor.

There was some silence that settled.

''So, what were you really doing here?'' Anko asked curiously. He had to have a reason. She did not think that he had come here to destroy and forest and drink. Compared to last time, something seemed off with him. It was also not every day that you find someone drinking alone in a forest that 'kills'.

''Why do you spend so much time in this forest, away from village?'' Naruto responded with a question. This forced both of them to stare into each other's eyes, as if trying to get the answer from the other's eye.

**Obviously there are things that Naruto is doing outside of Konoha. You should keep this in mind because in the next chapters, some of the things that Naruto has been doing that have not been shown will be revealed soon. I don't want anyone to think that I am just coming up with things and putting them on. **

**I worked around with Naruto's character so that he does not have to be such an ass sometimes. I don't think it is noticeable that I tweaked a few things. But it should work better for the long run. Given all that Naruto has to do, I don't think there will be fighting scenes in the next chapters. I will have to expand all that Naruto has been doing secretly and create a platform for him to work on in his path for peace.**

**So, henceforth, until chapter 24 we will be covering an arc I dub "The UNA arc". That is all I can say for now. **

**If I did not say it in the last chapter I am saying it now; Naruto will have no romantic relationship with Miyuki and that is final. What I can say is that they will be friends, good friends for that matter, but nothing more. **

**Sir Rob Mulaudzi **


	14. Chapter 14

**Yo! I have not put this in a long time, so I to put it up just to remind everyone…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… yeh, I said it.**

**Chapter 14**

For the first time, Naruto was late in waking up ever since he met Itachi. He had always woken up early to prepare for the day. Despite everything he might do before he sleeps, he always woke up early. It was within his DNA to wake up before the sun rays brutally wake him up.

Being woken up by the damn sun was not a pleasant thing. It was damn right annoying, especially when you wanted to sleep a bit more. This was enough to make one irate in the morning after being woken up like this.

Sighing, Naruto rose from his bad and yawned slightly. He would have to catch up on the activities he was supposed to do earlier. He would not leave his work because he had woken up late. Something like that would become a bad habit for him if he got used to it.

It was one of those times he really appreciated having the Kyuubi sealed within him. With the Bijuu sealed within him, he did not have to suffer from hangovers or anything of that sort. He woke up every day without a headache troubling him because of drinking a little too much. He was sure he was never going to drink as much as he did last night again. It was unacceptable that he do something like that. Well, it was not like he had much of a choice with Anko beside him. The woman had pushed for more gulps of sake and even forced them to come over to his house to get more sake while they talked.

The talk had been pleasant. Naruto had never thought that he would find himself having a pleasant talk with a woman like Anko. He thought that the woman was all about mischievousness and making her preys suffer. But it turned out she was not all that.

Speaking of the woman, she was sound sleep next to him. She drank too much last night and their ''activities'' after that had been surely tiring. He would understand why she was sound sleep. From her side, he was shadowing her from the sunrays. The night had gone in a way he had not expected. But it seemed to ease off his worries, and he felt light. He could go back to being himself without anything to worry about.

Perhaps last night had been his most pleasant night in the past month. He had slept well, perhaps it was because he had been too tired and needed much rest. But whatever it was, he felt light and good. He could start the day well. Without looking further at the woman beside him, Naruto got up from the bed - he was completely naked. He shrugged off his nakedness and went towards the shower to take a bath.

A few minutes later after a cold shower, Naruto stepped out of the small room with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He found Anko getting dressed hurriedly; she stopped though when she saw him. ''I thought for a moment that I was going to find you snuggling all over me when I woke up,'' she said getting back to dressing herself.

''Why would I be doing that?'' Naruto asked going towards his wardrobe to get himself clean clothes. He would need to get his clothes washed since they were a bit messy. But he had a pair of clean clothes in his wardrobe.

''Beats me,'' Anko responded with a shrug of her shoulders. She did not understand why some men liked to cuddle in bed. She was no into that staff. It was also nice that Naruto was not making a big deal of anything. He did not do anything that might have set her off. He had gotten all ticks which was pleasing.

''The thought never came to mind,'' Naruto responded. He was not experienced to this kind of things. And physical contact was something that he was learning right now. He would never have thought of doing something like that, though he had found out that some woman found cuddling pleasant, he did none of it because Anko was not girlfriend.

The woman finished putting on her clothes before looking back at Naruto. ''Thanks for a good night,'' with that, she disappeared, but not before speaking again. ''I think there are some people in your sitting room.''

She could have told him this earlier, Naruto thought shaking his head. He finished putting on his clothes. After that, he went on to make his bed. With everything put into place, he took a storage scroll. It had things he wanted within his office. He had sealed the things yesterday after coming back from his meetings with Tsunade.

Naruto then walked towards his sitting room. He already knew who was waiting for him. These were the only two people who could enter his house without his permission. Other people would find it impossible to get in because of the security seals he had set up. He did not like everyone entering his house when he was away.

He found Tsunade looking at him with a betrayed expression on her face. She seemed to be heartbroken by whatever form of betrayal he had committed. Jiraiya though seemed to have a pleased expression on his face.

Naruto ignored all the looks and spoke in a quite tone. ''What do I owe this visit, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya,'' he sat down across both Sannins.

''How could you, Naruto?'' Tsunade questioned looking straight at Naruto. Her tone laced with betrayal and hurt. She seemed to be sad about something. Naruto did not even bother to think what was bothering the woman. He had an idea. Jiraiya's pleasant expression also disappeared as he nodded in agreement with Tsunade as though he were asking the same question.

''Hmm..?''

''I trusted you, Naruto. And you betrayed me. How could you?!'' Her tone picked up as she voiced her thoughts. The poor woman really seemed to be hurt. One would be hitting Naruto already just by looking at Tsunade's expression.

''I never thought you would hurt her like this, Naruto,'' Jiraiya added sounding just hurt as Tsunade was.

Naruto sighed as three clones puffed into existence. He would have to leave now to his office and begin working on a few proposals he would have to send to other villages. But there was some work that needed to be done here at home. He would have his clones to it while he does other work. The clones disappeared to do their work after being created. ''What do you want?'' Naruto questioned turning back towards the two Sannins. He stood up as he spoke.

''What do I want?'' Tsunade seemed shocked to hear his questioned. ''What do I want?'' she repeated again as she stood up to face Naruto. ''You drank sake from the land of the toads without me. How could you Naruto? I thought I meant something to you? Do you know how it pains to know that you would do something like this to me?''

Naruto sighed. ''Let us speak as we head towards the tower,'' Naruto stated. He would eat some time later. He was not hungry anyway. Tsunade and Jiraiya did not seem like they were going to do as just that. ''I will give you a bottle later on the day if you just follow me.''

This got everything well.

''I doubt you came to my house just for the sake,'' Naruto said as the three walked within the streets of Konoha on their way towards the Hokage tower where both Naruto and Tsunade worked. He eyed both Sannins as he spoke. Despite Tsunade's dramatically act earlier, he knew the woman had not just come for that. Mind you, Jiraiya was also present. There had to be something that both wanted. It was not every day that both would show up at his house uninvited. Jiraiya would, but not Tsunade.

The Godaime Hokage sighed outwardly as she heard Naruto speak. She looked around the villagers as they walked. She could see their smiles. They seemed happy to see them walking around the village. Some people had even nodded at them as they walked about. But not everyone was smiling at Naruto. The majority seemed to have warmed up, but a few still looked at him with hatred, it was very well hidden though. She looked at Naruto; he had an impassive look on his face. From the past, he merely smiled widely even though they glared at him. But now, he just looked indifferent. Well, at least he did not take it to heart. She would have surely pounded anyone who dares to glare at her.

After a few moments of silence, Jiraiya spoke. ''Hime and I were just coming to check up on you,'' the toad sage stated in a calm tone. His eyes were not oblivious to his surroundings. He was just not thinking too much about it. It was not an easy thing to change the hearts of people, but he knew that eventually they would see the hero inside of Naruto.

''For what reason?'' Naruto questioned. He had almost spent the whole of yesterday with Tsunade. They had talked much together going through his responsibilities as a representative of Konoha and her second assistant. Even though the meetings were formal, Tsunade always brought up personal matters. But he had handled it well.

''Jiraiya told me about some of the things you had to do during your travels with him,'' Tsunade spoke in a soft tone, inviting Naruto to let her in. She wanted him to open up to her. She could help him since she has experienced so many things in her life. With experience came wisdom.

''He did that...'' Naruto did not sound surprised that Jiraiya had told Tsunade that he had been forced to commit murders. He had killed many. Their blood was on his hands. He had become a shinobi like any other. Perhaps now he could understand things differently.

''It is not something that I would have liked you to experience without having the talk with you,'' the Godaime glared at her former teammate for a moment before her expression softened again as she looked back at Naruto. ''I know that taking a life is not the easiest thing one can do even though we tell ourselves that we are ready for it for the sake of our village. People react differently under the weight of killing. Some people are haunted by the people they kill. You are still young and know what it is like to take life.''

''Even though you act like nothing is wrong, I know that not everything is alright, Naruto. Keeping it locked up will not do you any good, it will only drive you insane, or worse into a murderer. Trust me on this, Naruto, I know what I am talking about,'' Jiraiya added after Tsunade had spoken. He spoke in a firm tone that was laced with a touch of wisdom.

''Jiraiya is right. Keeping things locked up will not do you any good. I know with experience that it will only make you miserable,'' Tsunade spoke as a thought of her past flashed through her mind. ''You have experienced a lot, and back then, you were on your own. But now you have us, we don't want you to feel like you are alone. You can always talk to us, we will never turn you back,'' the Godaime spoke in a motherly tone.

Naruto smiled sadly before speaking. ''I know that you will always be there, baa-chan, godfather. It is not that I don't want to share anything with you or trying to shoulder my burdens on my own. As I told the pervert; when I want advice I will come to you, you are not too far away from my heart to be thinking that I will keep things to myself even though they trouble me. But for now, I am fine dealing with things on my own.''

Tsunade nodded. ''I just want you to know that my door is always open for you.''

''I know,'' Naruto said. ''If you came to council me, why did you not do so before we left?'' he seemed curious as he asked.

Jiraiya grinned. ''Well, it appears that you are fine, for now. There was no need for us to say anything,'' his grin seemed to suggest something, but Naruto did not bother to wonder as to what it was.

''But I do not condone drinking. I would have rather have you drink when you had at least reached 20,'' Tsunade stated. Jiraiya did not seem to agree with the blonde Hokage. Had he been agreeing with her, he would have nodded in agreement. But he acted as if he was not even listening to her.

''I am not a fan of sake. But yesterday, I wanted something that I did not enjoy. I will not be drinking any time soon. The amount of alcohol I drank yesterday was enough,'' Naruto responded as they entered at Hokage tower. They walked silently, towards Naruto's office. It was in the same floor as Tsunade's and not far from hers. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade wanted to see what the office looked like. The people who were furnishing it finished later last night. None of them had gone to check it out.

''I still can't believe that you ended up getting an office within this tower,'' Jiraiya said as the three continued on moving towards Naruto's office. He had expected Naruto to be fighting for the good of the village, not staying within an office going through some paperwork, not in his young age at least.

''It was not an easy thing to get him one. The council had been hesitant about even allowing him to have this kind of responsibilities. But your report on him was good enough to convince most of the head clans. And the fact that Naruto found his way into the Wind Daimyo's good books really did well to convincing the head clans. Not to forget about his inherited fame,'' Tsunade responded. The only major problem had been the elders. But she handled them well. The most surprise had been Danzo; she had expected him to object. But he did none of that. He merely remained quite. In fact, he had been a little too quite over the past few days. She could only guess that he was busy with something, nothing good clearly.

''Still, at such a young age, and with the elders still around, I never thought it would be possible. But you seem to handle them well unlike sensei,'' Jiraiya shook his head thinking of his late sensei. The man really did allow those fools to dictate a lot of matters even when they were merely advisors. They held no real power, but he still allowed them to carry some decisions and do things behind his back. At least Tsunade was correcting that.

''Sensei had become too old and simply allowed them to do as they pleased,'' Tsunade stated. Even when she took charge, they had attempted to decide for her. But she had reminded them that she was not Sarutobi. She did not tolerate her advisor making decisions for her.

O5, it was the number written on Naruto's door. The blond opened the door and the two Sannins followed behind him. The place was quite clean and nice. It clearly showed that everything was new within the place. The desk was just any normal desk, just like the one inside Tsunade's office.

On the right side of the office, there was a shelf that stretched through the whole wall. It was empty though. On the left side, there were three boxes containing books. There were also two chairs in front of the desk of visitors. The wall behind the desk had a large window that made it possible to see village clearly, But one from outside could not see what was inside the office. On the outside, it was like a mirror more than anything.

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya were amazed by the space. Naruto did not say anything though. He walked towards the desk and sat down. He took a spin on his chair before taking comfort. Tsunade was first to speak though. ''You did well with this place. I can't believe it used to be a storage room,'' the Godaime said taking a seat in front of the desk.

Naruto nodded. He was already feeling comfortable within this chair. ''If you spend a few years sitting there, gaining experience, no doubt you will make a good Hokage. Don't you think so hime?'' Jiraiya asked with a smile. He seemed to be proud of this moment.

''Yes,'' Tsunade responded with a smile.

''Your parents would certainly be proud if they saw you now, Naruto,'' Jiraiya added looking straight at the blond. He knew both of them enough to know that they would certainly be proud. Kushina would probably do something big to celebrate this. No doubt Minato would be grinning sheepishly with a proud smile.

''I have yet to do anything,'' Naruto brought Jiraiya back to earth. ''I have only been given an office to work. I cannot call this an achievement, rather it is an opportunity.''

Well the Sannins could not disagree on that, so none of them said anything about it. ''On to another matter,'' Tsunade said her tone becoming serious. ''Naruto, when are you going to inform your friends of your burden?'' she was very careful with her words. She did not want to seem like she was forcing him to say anything if he did not want to.

Naruto sighed. ''I have a meeting with the heirs of clans tomorrow. I will then fill in the rest later,'' he responded calmly. He had no problems in telling them. He had no fears of how they would react. He was prepared for any reaction they would give him. He would continue to live on regardless of how they viewed him after the revelation.

''Are you sure?'' Tsunade asked. ''I don't want you to do it because you feel pressured.''

Naruto nodded. ''I have been planning to tell them. I have just never found the time to do so since I know they will have a lot of questions.''

Tsunade nodded in understanding. ''What do you have to do with the heirs of the clans within Konoha?'' she was not aware of this meeting. Naruto had certainly not set it up with her.

''They are the next generation of leaders within the village, and since you have made it clear that you wish for me be a Hokage when you retire, Shikaku-san suggested that I work with them. The Hyuuga also agreed with this. Having healthy a relationship with them now will result in us working together well in the foreseeable future,'' Naruto explained lightly. Each of the heirs was to come with files from their clans that would help him understand each clan well. But it was nothing like jutsus or things they liked to keep secret. This was to be done because of Inoichi's suggestion.

''That is understandable,'' Jiraiya said in agreement with Shikaku's plan. It was good thing for the next generation. He had never actually thought of something like this. Well, the man was a genius after all. It was no surprise that his brain could work something like this.

''The boxes you see there were probably brought here last night or earlier on my orders. They contain all the information you requested and some I think you will find to be rather useful.'' Tsunade stated.

Naruto nodded as he took out the scroll he carried from home. He placed it on the table before going towards the boxes. He would need to pack things now before doing any actual work.

Tsunade snapped her fingers and an ANBU appeared. ''Neko, you can take off your mask,'' the Godaime said. Naruto stopped what he was doing and looked at the purple haired woman. ''This is Yugao, she came in highly recommended by Kakashi and I also recommend her as I have worked with her. She will be your guard along with Kakashi when you leave the village for important meetings.''

This was what he hated about the job. He would no longer be required to protect himself while travelling. Because he will be in the position of the Hokage, he will not have to use his energy to fight, but rather he would have to focus his energy on doing his task than fighting. Tsunade had insisted on this. He certainly did not like it. But he knew he could work a way around all this. Tsunade could celebrate her victory while it lasts.

''I will be going now,'' Tsunade said standing up. Yugao wore her mask and disappeared after a nod from the blond Hokage. ''Shizune will probably be looking for me now even though I told her I would have some matters to deal with in the morning,'' she said those words as she left Naruto alone with Jiraiya.

''Is there any particular reason why you stayed behind?'' Naruto asked taking a box towards the shelf. He was not paying his attention to the Sannin as he needed to pack his things before relaxing.

''You and Anko, huh? You made me proud to be your godfather last night, Naruto. I am so proud of you, though, I wish you had not set up those secondary seals in your bedroom. I never got to witness the action because of them,'' he sort of like complained in the last words.

''Go away, Jiraiya - I have work to do,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''When will you visit Konan? She will surely be happy to see you if you go,'' the blond stated. He was putting books in the shelf as he spoke.

''I will leave today,'' Jiraiya said. ''I will speak to you before I leave.'' With that, the toad sage was gone in a puff of smoke. No doubt he had gone to do his research. Naruto was left alone in his office. He appreciated the peace. He could now pack his things without someone bothering him. He needed to do it at his own pace without someone trying to engage him in a conversation. Without someone talking to him, he would not finish things at the time he wanted to. The blond packed everything quietly and unsealed the contents of his scroll before packing them. He placed three large files on his desk that would contain his work. The files held blank papers. The files were put on his right hand at the edge of the desk. On his right a small box that would be used as a cartridge. It already had papers within it.

**A few hours later**

Naruto was busy drawing up his proposal to Sunagakure, and to do that he was also referencing on Temari's talks with Tsunade. The blonde Suna jonin had been spending some time within the village as a representative from Suna. This meant that he would no doubt be working with her a lot. Temari had been doing so because Suna was trying to fix the fragile relationship between the two villages that had been put into risk because of Suna's betrayal. The village hidden in sand had betrayed Konoha and invaded them along with some Sound Shinobi. The relationship was able to be repaired because Tsunade was willing and the fact that Suna had been manipulated by Orochimaru.

A treaty had been struck, but every once in a while they changed it to improve the agreement and add a few things. As it stands, Sunagakure was probably the only village that Konoha was in the best of terms with. Naruto wanted to change that. Of all the great Hidden villages, they could not only be in good terms with Suna only. If they are to attempt a new era where villages got along well, he would have to mend healthy relationships with every village, not just major villages but also the small ones. The smaller villages also had a great impact within the shinobi world. It would be out of ignorance to leave them out of any plan he would come up with.

The blond was knocked out of his thoughts when there was a knock on the door. ''Come in,'' he said. The door then opened and to his surprise, Uchiha Sasuke stepped inside the office. The Uchiha walked in within the office and took a seat across Naruto. The blond could see the impassive expression on the teens face. According to Kakashi, the Uchiha had gone through some changes but nothing drastic. Still, it was a surprise to him that he would come here to him especially since he has shown no interest in talking with him.

''What can I do for you?'' He finally asked keeping his calm.

''I came to talk,'' The Uchiha responded calmly - His tone was not demanding, it was just neutral.

''Make it quick, I have work to do,'' Naruto said. It was really hard to ignore that Sasuke was alive and well. He now knew that it was impossible to delusion himself into thinking that the Sasuke he knew was dead, especially when you were staring at those eyes of that person. Itachi had also warned him that he was only taking the easier roud to dealing with things. What Sasuke did to him was blasphemy, but it was some time ago.

''You really do dislike me,'' he did not seem to be too concerned about that. ''Not that I can blame you after what I did.''

''What do you want Sasuke?''

''My goal has always been to kill Itachi and restore my clan. That is still my goal, but over the past three years I have discovered that out of everyone in the village, you were the only one who could understand me. And I almost killed you. What infuriated me was that you who understood the pain of loneliness did not understand me. I had thought you would understand why I had to go to Orochimaru, but you did not,'' the Uchiha paused for a moment. ''For what is worth, I really did see you as a friend and somewhat of a brother.''

It was the truth, but what Naruto took notice of most was that it was all said in past tenses.

"Is that all?" Naruto asked in a mask of indifference. Sasuke could give him the credit for keeping the mask without a single crack on it – the mask stayed on his face as though he was born with it. It was hard to believe that this was the same idiot that forced him to stay in this face. Well, he had gotten what he wanted and even more, so he had no complains about that.

Sasuke shook his head, no. "Crows," he said watching Naruto like a hawk, a look he learned from Danzo. But it was very subtle, making it difficult to sport.

"What about them?" Naruto kept the mask as he responded. He guessed where this was going. He should have been a bit more careful with his work. Sasuke worked with Danzo, any mistake he made, the old man would no doubt capitalize on it.

"You have a contract with them. I know for certain that Itachi is the one who holds the crow contract. This leads me to conclude that you are in contact with him. You do know that Konoha dislikes him for what he did. If word got out that you, who was disliked, have some sort of relationship with a traitor, it won't be long before the villagers…" He did not have to spell it out to Naruto.

"What do you want Sasuke?" This was certainly interesting. The Uchiha looked like he was going to apologize, but now he was blackmailing.

Sasuke was almost disappointed that Naruto kept everything in check. Almost. "You know where he is. I just want to talk to him, is that so bad?"

Naruto never averted his eyes from Sasuke, even for a second. "You have yet to make your request."

"The next time you go to see him tell him that I want to meet him since I know the truth."

If Sasuke was expecting something from Naruto, he was disappointed – the blond did not even twitch. "You can leave if that is all you want," a response from his former teammate. It was he who almost twitched at the response. He had swallowed a large chunk of his pride even to say the first words, and this was all he got? Last time he had been unable to say anything, and after all his efforts, he got this?

''I truly am pathetic. I tried to deal with a problem by pretending that it was dead. How idiotic,'' Sasuke read Naruto's lips before he disappeared.

'Well that was unexpected,' Naruto thought as the Uchiha left his office. He was certainly not expecting a thing of what had just happened. But he was a little proud of himself that he held his nerve well.

**A day later**

Naruto had eaten his lunch with Tsunade and Shizune. They had all gone out to eat at a restaurant close by before returning to work.

The food was okay. It had been the first time that Naruto had actually had lunch with Tsunade and Shizune. They never had things like that or eating together despite how close they were. It was something that was nice for a change. But the women were asking him questions about how he was adapting to the office life. He had no complains, he was used to spend some time within the office in his home. It was no bother to him at all.

Still, he would not be in the office from morning to evening. Some days he would only go in the afternoon. There was nothing really forcing him to stay in the office all day when he had little work. He also could not abandon his training with Lee and Gai - Those two would do well to keep him physical.

It did not take long before the clan heirs walked into his office. Naruto was only expecting six people, but he was greeted by 8 of them, including Sasuke and Neji. He was not expecting to see those two in this meeting, but he did not say anything. He merely leaned back to his chair and looked at them all calmly.

''Wow, so you really have an office, Naruto,'' Ino said, she was the first to speak. When he had told her, she did not believe it. But now she could since she could see it with her own eyes. Her fellow blond also looked nice behind the desk. ''This place is really nice. It is lacking some flowers, though,'' she girl said and then nodded to herself.

''This is unbelievable. I can't believe this!'' Kiba exclaimed, rather loudly. It was also not fair to him for Naruto to have what he did not have. It was not fair. Naruto had been a dead last when they were kids. How could he change so much? And now he had an office of his own. It was not fair to him.

Shikamaru yawned. ''This is going to be troublesome,'' the Nara said in a bored tone. ''Well, it does seem like you will finally achieve that dream of yours, eh Naruto?''

''It appears so,'' Naruto responded. He then looked at Sasuke. ''I was not aware that you were going to be present,'' he stated, keeping his tone neutral. Everyone else seemed to be ignoring the Uchiha, well except for Ino, Shikamaru, and Neji just looked indifference as though he did not care about anything. But it did not seem to bother him at all.

''I was not supposed to be here. But the Hokage told me that I should come since I have made it official that I want to restore the Uchiha clan. She saw that if the future leaders were going to meet, it was best that I do so,'' the Uchiha responded coolly. He had decided that while he still trains to become strong and look for Itachi, he could as well be making plans to restore his clan. He could not plan for that after dealing with Itachi when he did not even know when he will encounter the man. His little play with Naruto did not seem like it would bare much fruit.

Naruto nodded, though, he would have wished that Tsunade told him about this since he had been with her earlier. She could have given him a heads up instead of doing things like this. The blond then looked at Neji, ''...I was only expecting Hinata from the Hyuuga clan,'' the blond said looking straight at his fellow jonin. He had no qualms with the boy. In fact, Neji's company was likeable than Kiba's.

''Hiashi-sama insisted that I be here to represent the branch family and said it was important since I would be working closely with Hinata-sama,'' the Hyuuga responded coolly without skipping a beat.

''That is acceptable,'' Naruto responded. ''Hinata and Neji from the Hyuuga clan, Chouji from the Amikichi clan, Shikamaru from the Nara clan, Shino from the Aburame clan, Kiba from the Inuzuka clan, Ino from the Yamanaka clan, and lastly Sasuke from the Uchiha clan; you have already been told why you are here correct?''

They all nodded.

''Good. We have nothing much to discuss really. When a new leader steps in he/she comes in with new changes. I believe all of you have already thought about the changes that you want to make within your respective clans. Now I want you all to put that into writing. When you done you with all your plans for the foreseeable future, you will bring them to me - There is no due date for that.''

''Why do we have to do that?''

''There is a proposal for a change in laws and policies within the village that will affect all the clans. The current laws were made long ago and not all of them accommodate the current generation. Many were made during those times of wars. But in the next years, they will be changed to accommodate the coming generation as we prepare to step into a new era. This is done so to ensure that the laws that will be made do not contradict with any of your beliefs so to avoid conflicts,'' Naruto explained calmly.

''So the old folks are really giving us a room to work so to prepare us for the roles we will inherit from them,'' Shikamaru said knowing that this was done to prepare them for the roles that they will take as heirs of clans in Konoha. ''This is going to be troublesome.''

''Come on Shikamaru, it won't be that bad,'' Chouji said to his friend.

''Yeh, Shikamaru, when are you going to stop being so lazy?'' Ino said looking at her teammate. She could never understand how the teen could be so lazy. He only got serious when his friends were in trouble. This sounded like something serious; she thought he would at least take this seriously.

Naruto cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. ''Place the files you were given right here,'' he said pointing at the desk. He had created space on the shelf. He would need to create a file for each clan so not to misplace and mix the files. He would do so before the day ends today.

His peers did as told.

Naruto spoke again. ''Now on to another matter; I do suspect that some of you may already know of this,'' he paused for a moment. ''The secret that was kept from everyone was not only that Namikaze Minato was my father. But it is also something that concerns the Kyuubi -''

Kiba spoke before Naruto could continue. Shikamaru already knew what Naruto was going to say. ''What about the Kyuubi? And I still don't understand why someone like you has to be sitting there like you are in charge. Now that I have mentioned it, you are acting like you are the boss here.''

''I would appreciate if you did not interrupt while I am talking, Kiba,'' Naruto said calmly. ''Out of everyone here, you are the only one who lacks self restraint. You are brash and an impatient little boy. Seriously, you can be annoying sometimes.''

Well, that was certainly unexpected. Kiba glared. ''I dare you to repeat that Naruto.''

Naruto shrugged. ''You heard me,'' he said. ''If you don't start learning some self control now, your sister will head your clan until you can grow a few brains.'' Naruto went on again before Kiba could speak again. ''As I was saying, the Kyuubi was not killed as you were led to believe. Killing the Kyuubi is impossible. My father did the only thing possible, he sealed it within me.''

''What?!'' that came from Ino and Kiba. But they were ignored by everyone else.

''You know Naruto, I had thought you may attempt to sweet talk this like making an attempt to explain that as many have believed, you are not in fact the Kyuubi but its container,'' Shikamaru stated. But it seemed that the blond had not planned to say something like that.

''There is no point in sweet talking it,'' Naruto responded with a shrug. ''Only stupid and ignorant people who are ruled by hatred will think that I am the Kyuubi. And I have a reason to believe that you are neither stupid nor ignorant. But then again, I could be wrong...''

''A-ano, Naruto-kun, is this why people used to stare at you hatefully?'' Hinata asked quietly.

''Yes,'' Naruto responded with a nod.

''Why was it kept a secret? And why would anyone think you are the Kyuubi? I mean I may be an idiot, but I am smart enough to know that you are not the Kyuubi but Naruto,'' Kiba stated calmly, he seemed to huff at the looks he got from those around him.

''So you can be stupid and smart at the same time,'' Naruto commented dryly earning a glare from Kiba.

''The answer is obvious, Kiba. Why? Because as Hinata has said, people used to glare at Naruto-san. In your ignorance you have not noticed this. in our genin days, it seemed that most people in the older generation hated Naruto-san and saw him as the Kyuubi rather than its container,'' Shino responded coolly. ''I assume that the Sandaime came to a logical conclusion to forbid the knowledge of Naruto's status so to avoid our generation to treat Naruto as the older generation.''

''Shino is right, Kiba,'' Shikamaru said.

''So you are like that Gaara?'' Ino asked quietly.

''Yes,'' Naruto responded. ''That will be all. You can fill in the others when you see them. Now if you will excuse me, I have some work to do.''

They all left him alone without another word. It seemed that they were going to discuss this amongst themselves without Naruto and Sasuke since the Uchiha left via shunshin instead of walking out of the office with the others. They did not like him well, so he had no reason to hang around them anymore.

''That went well,'' Naruto said to himself. ''You know Kakashi, it is not a good thing to eaves drop on other people's conversation,'' The blond stated knowing that the jonin had been listening.

The jonin merely shrugged his shoulders as he appeared before Naruto. ''You seem to have settled in well,'' he stated looking at the blond over his orange book.

''I have,'' Naruto admitted calmly.

''I was wondering if you would be free to meet with me later,'' the jonin said.

''I will be free,'' Naruto responded.

''Good,'' Kakashi eye smiled. ''I will come and pick you at your house.''

''Do you know how that just sounded?'' Naruto asked the jonin with a raised brow. ''Seriously, Kakashi, you should not put words like that. It almost sounded like you were promising to pick me up for a date.''

''What would be the problem in that?'' Kakashi asked looking straight at Naruto. If the blond had been anyone, he would have surely been freaked out by this. But he knew Kakashi too well. *sigh*, ''You know you could at least pretend to be shocked, Naruto,'' the jonin said.

Naruto smiled. ''Nah,'' then he chuckled – he was finding this a bit amusing.

''How are you dealing with your issues with Sasuke?'' the jonin questioned changing the topic. He was genially curios. He did not want Naruto to hold eternal hatred for the Uchiha because it would harm the blond himself than Sasuke. He knew well to enough to know that harboring hatred was not a good thing.

''Well, but I would rather not talk about it,'' Naruto responded coolly. He was already questioning himself too much to talk about it. He had discovered that telling himself that Sasuke was dead to him was not going to do it.

Kakashi nodded, and let it go, not wanting to push it. ''Oh, just as a warning, some other jonins will be there too,'' the man stated before leaving in a puff of smoke. Naruto sighed; he had not expected to be hanging out with other jonins soon. He really did like his time alone. Well, there was no harm in being with the others.

**The following day**

It had been some time since he had visited Iruka. The man had done a lot for him even though at first, he used to hate him. The chunin teacher used to hate him when he first entered into the man's class in the academy. It had been a surprise to see Iruka with the same eyes as everybody in the village. But it soon changed and the man warmed up to him. They got well together and he became one that was closest to him than anyone else. But things had changed again. Still, he would never abandon the man because things appeared to be going well. It would be a sin for him to forsake the man because now he had Tsunade and Jiraiya. He would never forget those who helped him when he was still suffering.

It had been long since he set foot in the academy. It brought back some memories. Despite everything that happened to him in his younger age. He had a lot of fun in the academy. He was always laughing and goofing around and never paid attention to anything. Perhaps if he had bothered to pay attention to Iruka; he would not have been the dead last. But his practical skills would not have changed a bit since he had no one to help him with them. He would have never refused help if someone had offered to train him. But no one had been willing to help him achieve that. His failing also had to do with his lack of chakra control. If he had known back then that he was failing to do the Bunshin no jutsu because of lack of better control over his chakra, he would have trained to control his chakra better.

Well, the night of the Mizuki incident had brought some good things for him. The night changed everything for him, his entire outlook for life. He changed nothing with how he acted though. But from that day he had known that the Sandaime was capable of lying to his face. The man had outright lied to him when he asked why everyone hated him. The reasons did not matter, what mattered was that the old man had chosen to keep the truth from him. And the way he had found out was not a healthy. His childhood was certainly messed up.

The Gods must have surely spent much time plotting for things to go that way. They must have invested a lot of time to ensure that they screwed up everything for him.

Shaking his head, Naruto finally reached Iruka's class, he could hear the man giving one of his lectures that he never bothered to listen to. It was a surprise how he could pass the written exam when he did not even study and had troubles with some words. But he was highly perceptive and thought much deeper than people gave him credit for.

Well, it was not that his behavior did anything to prove them otherwise. He always acted stupid and never quite restrained himself. At least now he had learned some control over himself and his actions. He no longer just exploded when he felt like it. He could be calm in any situation.

He decided to knock at the door. He had to see the man now before he got more work to do. He heard the man's voice speak, ''Come in,'' he opened the door and went in.

He could see the wide eyes of Iruka as he walked inside the class. ''Naruto?'' the man got over his surprise quickly and smiled brightly. For the students in the class, it had been the first time they saw their sensei smile like that. He never smiled so brightly when either of them did something right or answered his questions correctly. He did smile at them, but the smile was not as big as the one they were seeing.

''Hello, Iruka,'' Naruto greeted kindly as he walked towards his former sensei. ''It had been long, hasn't it?''

Iruka nodded as he continued to smile at Naruto. ''I had even thought you had forgotten about your former sensei.''

''I would never do anything like that,'' Naruto responded, smiling, as he took a look at Iruka's class. The kids were young; they were in their first or second year within the academy. Looking at them like this, really did remind him of his time at the academy. It was a lot of fun. The only problem was that most of the time the other kids were laughing at him.

But it was all over now. Many of those kids had not even made it as genins with him even though they graduated from the academy.

''Eh, Iruka-sensei, who is he?'' One of the students asked. The boy seemed to have no mind who the blond was. It had already been confirmed by Tsunade to the villagers that Naruto was the son of the Yondaime Hokage. By now, most people already know the blond. Not that most people did not know him already. How could he not be known already when the villagers had hated him from his child hood.

Before Iruka could respond, another boy responded. ''That's Namikaze Naruto you idiot. He is the only son of the Yondaime Hokage,'' the boy said, loud enough for everyone to hear him. The reactions were mixed. Some did not seemed to be too surprised with this revelation while some smile and two or three remained indifferent.

''Quite down!'' Iruka yelled as the kids had already started making noise within the class. It was probably about their opinions of the blond beside him. He was happy though that the children had no problem with Naruto. It would have been disappointing if this generation had taken the ways of the older generation. But it appears that the younger generation had not been corrupted. ''Today I am going to allow you to leave early. As you can see, I have a visitor. So I will see you all tomorrow. But if I hear that you were making trouble in the village...'' he let the words hang to allow his students' imaginations to run wild. Sometimes it was so satisfying to see them cringe under his unspoken threats.

The kids hurriedly cleared the class. It seemed that they were afraid that he may change his mind about allowing them to leave early. But Iruka had nothing like that in mind. It had been long since had spent some time with Naruto. He had been busy with his classes and Naruto has also been busy with his new work. ''I heard that you got a new job,'' the man said smiling.

He must have heard it from Kakashi, Naruto thought. ''Yes, it is a pain also. It seems that the Hokage as taking advantage of my new position into piling more work into my desk. If anything, it seems that she wants me to be tied around the desk so that I don't leave the village for missions.''

Iruka laughed. It certainly has been long since he last saw his little ''brother'' speak. Even though he has changed, he could still see the traces of the old Naruto. ''What did she have you do?''

''She had me sit in the mission hall to listen to complains from the villagers. I had to endure four hours of torture. The villagers also seemed to take some of their frustrations on me,'' Naruto explained. As a new strategy to ensure that villagers are treated in the way that worked well for everyone, not a certain group of people, they had decided to allow some villagers to voice some of their thoughts. Despite many only talking nonsense, he had gotten some valuable data. He would have to make a report to Tsunade later on.

''Let me guess, it was your idea, that is why she had you do it,'' Iruka stated. Complaining villagers were not easy to deal with. He knew that first hand since he had received a fair share of complaints from parents who seemed not to be too satisfied with the work of the academy.

Naruto nodded. ''Well, anyway, I thought I would come and see you since it has been long. As things are going on for now, I may find myself with little time to spare.''

''Its good that you are working so hard for the village. With how you were back then, I would have never thought you would be sitting in an office. Being brash and loud, I thought you would be out there doing dangerous missions.''

''Things change,'' Naruto said simply. But that did not mean he did not mean he no longer loved doing dangerous.

''That they do,'' Iruka nodded in agreement before smiling. ''I do hope your love for ramen has not changed. For old times' sake, let us go to get some while we talk.''

''Sure,'' Naruto responded not seeing any reason to reject the offer. He did miss eating with Iruka.

**Later (Tsunade's office)**

Naruto had reported to the Hokage that he would come and make his report on his findings. He was just going to make a report on his findings. He was not going to offer solution to the problems. It was not in his place to do so unless asked. He had made the reports before even going to see the Godaime Hokage.

Sighing, Naruto allowed himself to enter the office. He found the Hokage behind her desk and two head clans sitting down across her desk.

''You finally came,'' Tsunade spoke as though she had been waiting for the blond for a long time.

''I had told you I would come at this time. And I am here. You speak as though I am late. Were you not listening to me carefully when I spoke to you?'' Naruto questioned, knowing that the Hokage had a tendency to do something like that. And something like that resulted in embarrassing moments.

Tsunade merely smiled. ''Ahem, since you are here, why don't you give your report.''

''I was not expecting to see the head clans here,'' Naruto said placing a file he held on top of the desk for Tsunade. It was a copy, he held the original inside his office.

''Hiashi is the head of the most powerful clan in Konoha, and Shikaku is the jonin commander and also my advisor.'' She did not have to explain anything further. Naruto would understand why they had to be here. They were important powerful men within the village who seemed to support him.

The blond nodded. ''Most of the complains were nothing important. Some were just saying random staff that held no importance. But I was able to draw out some things that I felt had some importance in them,'' he paused for a moment. ''I have detailed them in that file. Since I had not thought Hiashi-san and Shikaku-san would be here, I had made a single file for you to look at.''

Tsunade took the file and opened it. While she was going through it, Shikaku spoke. ''Is there anything that would change how things are currently run?''

Naruto nodded. ''Some of the Shinobi parents have complained about the education in the academy. Even though we are no longer living in the time of war, they feel that their kids are not taught the required skills that they need to survive. The academy students are also not told of the true extent of what a shinobi is. This becomes a problem especially to those clan less because they don't get to be trained anything special because their parents have no capacity to do so.''

''I once discussed this problem with the Sandaime, but he did not listen,'' Hiashi stated. The old man had insisted that there was no need to change anything.

''When the academy graduates are not prepared well for the shinobi life, they are most likely to die soon. Some are from civilian families have no one to train them, which puts them at a disadvantage. Hokage-sama, you know well what Sakura was like when she was a genin. It was not a matter of anything that allowed people like her to graduate, but ignorance.''

Tsunade shook her head ridding herself from the thoughts of a younger Sakura. ''The Sandaime had become too soft in his old age and screwed up some things,'' the Hokage stated.

''How do you propose we deal with such a problem, Naruto?'' Shikaku asked curiously. He just wanted to hear the blonds' response. Nothing more.

Naruto folded his hands across his chest. ''The whole system has to be changed from entrance test, education to the graduation exams. The system has many flaws. One may be perform the necessary skills to graduate, but mentally one may not be fit to become a shinobi. You all know how unprepared mentally team 7 was.''

Shikaku nodded and spoke. ''So you think there should be a psychological evaluation before a student can graduate.''

''Yes,'' Naruto responded before explaining further on the matter.

**It took me two weeks to redo this chapter. I could have done it in a day, but I was quickly losing interest in doing anything with this story. But anyway, I won't take long to post chapter 15. I have already worked on it- it just needs some finishing touches.**

**Obviously, one of the things I changed was the scene between Naruto and Sasuke. And just to clear things out, Naruto will not be Sasuke's friend, not now, not any time soon and certainly not ever. I will give Sasuke, Danzo, Orochimaru, and the weapon a field to play once I conclude this UNA arc.**

**Drawing this chapter was a little hard since I did not know for sure when Sasuke would make his move and I did not want Naruto to tell the rookies about the Kyuubi. But it is not like he told them about the rest of his childhood. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

''You wanted to see me Danzo,'' Sasuke stated as he looked towards Danzo. He was within ROOT hideout. The old man had called him into the place. Normally he would not be called unless there was some important mission that he needed to do. That happened since he was transferred back to Tsunade's command. When as a jonin, he usually worked with Kakashi or just do solo missions. Looking at the man, he noticed that the man's eyes twitched slightly because he showed no respect to the man. He had never done that before. He had never bowed before the man or even made an effort to make him happy by calling him Danzo-sama. The man was just means to an end. There was no need for him to worship him.

''I see you still insist on calling like that,'' the man noted. His two guards were flanking both his sides as he spoke. If it had been anyone they would have moved to teach him some lessons. But there was now no need for that. They knew that they could not make Sasuke get on his knees. It was better to just let things be as they were. As long as the boy did what he was told he had no other problems.

''Will you tell me what you want already, Danzo,'' Sasuke stated, seeming impatient with the man. He had a mission today with Neji. He needed to go before he was late. He had never worked with the Hyuuga before, but he knew the teen was strictly business.

''I have a mission for you,'' Danzo stated.

''What is it?''

''I am told that you are going to leave the village today with Hyuuga Neji to a mission within the borders of the Fire country towards the River country to investigate a matter. When you reach there, one of my agents will seek you out. You will have to separate from the Hyuuga before meeting with him,'' Danzo threw Sasuke a small scroll. ''You will give him this scroll; in return he will give you another scroll. Failure is not acceptable!''

''Is that all?'' Sasuke questioned pocketing the scroll.

''Yes,'' Danzo responded. Outwardly he remained impassive, but inwardly, he was grinning. He liked Sasuke when it came to matters like this. Despite the boys lack of respect towards him, he never questioned when he was assigned a mission. As long as it was worth his time, he would do it. And Sasuke never failed. The boy always managed to succeed all his missions, flawlessly.

''I have a question,'' Sasuke said, bringing Danzo out of his thoughts.

''Has your disrespect reached a new level that you will question Danzo-sama, Uchiha?'' A rough voice spoke beside Danzo. It appeared that the person was ready to step into the fold and have a dance with Sasuke. But the Uchiha seemed to have no mind to it. He did not even spare the man a glance. He outright ignored him.

Danzo raised his right hand silencing his guard. ''It is alright, Fu,'' the man said. ''What is it Sasuke? Now be careful, depending on the question, I may or may not answer.''

''Tsunade has us going to investigate the near destruction of the Village Hidden in Waterfalls. It is said some man with black eyes ran around the village killing anyone he came into contact with, do you know anything of this man?'' Sasuke asked curiously. His tone also suggested that he wanted the answers, and was not going to easily back down if Danzo refused to answer him. The man always had Intel on things going around the Shinobi nations. It was almost as if he had eyes everywhere.

''The man that did that was a former shinobi of the village. He was kidnapped by Orochimaru to be experimented on, and the village abandoned him to his fate. I do not know much about it. But he has also been killing shinobi he comes across for weeks now. I would advise you to be careful because he seems to be very dangerous,'' Danzo stated. He had many reasons to believe that this was the weapon Orochimaru had said had escaped. For now he would wait and see what the weapon was capable of doing. His gut was telling him that Sasuke may very well come across this weapon. If they met, Sasuke would come back with valuable Data. It is then that he would make a move on the weapon.

Sasuke left without responding to Danzo's warning. He merely walked away from the presence of the war hawk. Neji may have already been waiting for him. He had asked because something about this mission was making him feel otherwise. It made him curious; he had never felt this way before. He had completed a lot of dangerous missions, but this gave him the chills. But it did nothing that to make him excited. Perhaps he would finally meet a foe who could push him.

''Should we follow him?''

''No - He will succeed his mission,'' Danzo replied without a single worry. ''Has Sai returned yet?''

''No; He should return in two or three days.''

Danzo did not respond. It was time he made his move within Konoha. He had been silent for too long. It was time he moved about to ensure that Tsunade did not change things completely. If she continued running the changes, it would only make it difficult for him to push her out. It things got difficult, he would have to change strategies and come up with a new way of tackling things. He would be patient though. He would never allow himself to be rushed into making stupid decisions by naive children.

**Later, Tsunade's office**

''You know, Hokage-sama, you seem to be happy these days. You are not always irate. If I did not know any better, I would think that you have found someone to love,'' Naruto stated in a blank tone trying not to show any emotion as he spoke. Being that he knew better, he knew that Tsunade was happy because she dumped much of her work on his desk. But it was not going to last forever since he would only be working three to four hours in the office unless there are meetings.

''You know how to ruin someone's mood,'' Tsunade said sighing. ''I still don't get how you can keep a straight face while saying staff like that,'' the Godaime stated looking straight at Naruto. Seriously, the blond could say some embarrassing things that would have everyone blushing and yet keep a straight face. Now that she thought of it, she had never seen him blush ever since he returned from his training. She would not expect someone like Danzo to blush; the man would be disgusted instead of being sexually interesting by seeing a naked woman. But this was Naruto - her Naruto.

''It is a matter of having self control. And I have experienced too many things to be embarrassed about pointless things,'' Naruto responded coolly.

''You are speaking like that again,'' Tsunade spoke shaking her head. ''What do you think of Temari?''

''Be specific,'' Naruto responded. It had been a few days since he took his office. During that time, he had held a couple of meetings with her over certain issues regarding both villages. She was a representative of Sunagakure; this meant when she came here she no longer spoke to Tsunade but him. After speaking with her, he had not allowed her to leave alone. He had teleported her back to Sunagakure. It saved time for her and avoided any dangers she may face while travelling back home. When he had arrived there, Gaara had insisted that he stay for the night. His friend had told him each time he came to his home, he was to never leave without spending the night.

''What do you think of her as a person, as a woman?'' the Godaime asked carefully. She did not want to seem like she was suggesting something. But she knew that Naruto would catch on quick to why she would ask him such a question. She just hoped that he did not freak out or anything.

''She is a wonderful person despite her violent temper. She is kind, beautiful and caring. The woman is also a bit controlling, but nothing too troublesome. She does like to be in charge,'' Naruto responded. He did not go into details. This was going like a conversation he had with Gaara.

''What would you think of her as a wife?'' Tsunade was careful in choosing her words. She also spoke in a calm tone so to calm Naruto should he overreact or something.

''Gaara asked me a question like that,'' Naruto said, Tsunade did not seem to be surprised. ''But he was blunt. He phrased it like, ''Would you marry my sister if I offered her to you?'' I have to say, I was surprised since it came out of nowhere. Gaara seems to trust me more than any other male that he would rather trust his sister with me than any other. He also did mention that his council was trying to push him to marry her off to Kumogakure to strike an alliance with the village.''

''When Gaara became Kazekage they tried to marry her to Iwagakure to form a partnership with them, but Ohnoki refused the deal. It is not that Gaara would have allowed his sister to be married off to some stranger,'' Tsunade added a part that Naruto was not aware off. The blond was surprised. But it should be expected since by the time Gaara took charge, they were suffering economically. They would have done anything to get out of the situation.

Naruto brushed his hair for a few moments with his right hand. ''You are asking me this because Gaara wants me to marry Temari so she does not have to be married to someone else he does not trust,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''What is it you are not telling me, Tsunade?''

This was perhaps the first time Naruto had called her by her name like that. If he called her name, he always used an honorific. But this time he did not. The blonde Hokage sighed. ''There is one richest man within Sunagakure. He owns lot of businesses within the village. He even gave his own money when the village was suffering, economically. But he has been pressuring Gaara to offer him his sister to him or he will leave the village. If he does the village will suffer. And getting rid of him won't solve the matter.''

''I see,'' Naruto said in thought.

''The deal with Kumo is not that much of a problem. But this one is another matter. Gaara has found a way to deal with the man without killing him, but he needs someone he trusts to take Temari in. This will also strengthen the relationship between Konoha and Suna. I think Gaara would have asked you if you liked his sister regardless of the situation,'' Tsunade said.

Naruto was thoughtful for a few moments. He knew that Temari did not like him in that way neither did he. They were more of friends than anything. It also seemed that the woman liked someone. He was not exactly sure who and he did not care.

''If you don't like it, you can just stay engaged to her until Gaara deals with his problem. You can call it off after that.''

''What of the Wind Daimyo? She seems like a person who could help him sort out this problem,'' Naruto said. Miyuki did not seem to be a cold person who would refuse to help someone in need.

''He said he wanted to deal with it on his own. Their relationship is fragile, if he started asking help, she may think otherwise about it.''

''I will help Gaara in any way I can. But I don't want to force Temari into something she does not want to. I will speak to Gaara about this. A greedy man will give up on anything if he is given a lot of money,'' Naruto stated.

''Where will you get the money? You don't have the kind of money the man may demand,'' Tsunade questioned. Naruto had money inherited from his father, but it was not enough to settle the matter that was troubling Gaara.

''I am resourceful,'' Naruto responded but he did not explain further. ''I will speak to Gaara,'' he paused for a moment. ''I received word from the Mizukage. She liked my proposal, and invited me to come over. I will teleport to Kiri in two nights.''

Tsunade smiled at this. ''You really don't waste time, do you? The council will be happy to know of this. But I still don't like the fact that you are going to leave alone. I know Kiri is a lot far than Suna, but can't you take Yugao or Kakashi with you?'' the Godaime was close to begging at this moment.

''It it is enough that you have an ANBU following me when I am not insider the tower or my house. I want some time alone. You will not change my mind about this one,'' Naruto responded in a firm tone showing the Godaime that he was not going to back down from his word.

''Fine,'' the woman seemed to huff as she said the word. ''You were requested specifically for a mission by Tazuna from the Wave country. I don't know the contents of the mission but he requested you and said it was important.''

''I will take it, and I will leave today. I have missed getting some action,'' Naruto stated standing up.

''Aren't you going to take someone with you?''

''No,'' and he was gone.

''Damn that brat. He will probably teleport to the Wave country.'' This would not give her enough time to send someone after him.

**Later (The Wave country)**

It had not taken much time for Naruto to get to the country since had teleported. Knowing a space/time jutsu had its benefits. He could travel in all Great Villages within the single day. It was a feat that no one in this life could achieve. The only other two who knew the jutsu were dead so he was the only one could move like this. It was a pleasant feeling to know that he could travel all over the world without taking much time. All he had to do was to ensure that he had marked a few secret places.

At any given time, he could teleport to wherever he had marked. But teleporting over to large distances did take much chakra. He had realized so when he had teleported to Sunagakure with Temari. But when teleporting at the close range, it did not take much chakra. A single flash did nothing to his chakra reserves. Perhaps it was because he had a higher control over his chakra.

It was getting late, so he would not be able to do the mission he was set to do. He would have to wait for tomorrow before doing it. After that, he could teleport back to Konoha. But he first needed to see Itachi to talk to him about this Gaara business. He would have to change the places he had marked. It would not be safe to keep using the same place. Someone might see him and notice something. Nodding to himself, Naruto removed the seal he had placed the forest before going towards Tazuna's house.

He walked ever so calmly towards the house. He could still remember the way every well. It had been a destination of his first A-rank mission and Tazuna had been his first outside client. He could very remember all the details very well. That mission would never leave him. Sakura had been surely useless during the mission. He never saw it back then though. Kakashi surely noticed it. He was their jonin sensei after all. At least now the pink haired medic nin had grown well. She was fairly strong and very good in medical ninjutsu. Even he would never want to get hit by one of her punches. Those things would certainly break his bones.

Naruto arrived at house that belonged to Tazuna. It seemed to have been renovated. The change was to be expected given the change the country had gone through. With Gato out of the way, the village could return to its former glory. This meant the same for the citizens of the country. For someone like Tazuna who had fought while the others lost hope, it was given that his riches would be greater. It would not be a surprise to Naruto if the man had taken some power within the country. Saying taking it does not put it in a good way, more like given a position of power within the country. Many villagers honored their heroes, unlike some.

The blond knocked at the door and waited. It did not take long for the door to open. Tsunami opened the door. The older woman looked at him for a moment before smiling warmly. ''Naruto,'' she said identifying him. Her tone was full of warmth as ever. It made Naruto smile at her. ''Don't just stand there, come in,'' she stated inviting the blond.

Naruto got inside the house and stopped for a moment. Yep, Tazuna was loaded now. ''The place has changed a lot. But you still look as lovely as before,'' the blond commented as Tsunami came to his side.

For a moment Tsunami did not know how to respond. She did not know whether to be flattered or something else...? Still, it felt nice hearing those words, especially with the charming smile the blond had on his face. It was small, yet so beautiful. He certainly has grown a lot from being a loud child. He seemed like a man. Shaking her head, Tsunami responded. ''Father changed a lot of things since things started working for the good, and thank you for the comment.'' She spoke with an honest smile.

Naruto shrugged. He would never say one was nice when they were not. He would not want anyone to lie to him just to make him smile. A smile out of ignorance and lies? No thank you. He did not need anything like that. Shouldering the reality was what was acceptable.

For an older woman like her, she still could blush, albeit at a controlled manner than the younger ones. It was barely noticeable, but a blush nonetheless. ''Where are you teammates?'' she asked changing the subject as she led the blond to the sitting room.

''I came alone''

''Really? Where are Kakashi-san, Sasuke and Sakura?'' The woman asked with a curious face. She did not know what had happened. She thought the blond would have come with his team even though her father had requested him. For a mission this big, she doubted he could handle it alone. It was not a mission for a single person. One needed support to handle the mission.

''We are no longer a team,'' Naruto responded with a nonchalant shrug, Tsunami noticed. He has changed so much, the woman thought. Naruto took a seat as did Tsunami. ''Where is Tazuna?''

''He is out, but will return soon, and Inari is away,'' she seemed a little sad in the last part of her response. This drew Naruto's attention. He did not want to think that something may have happened to the boy. If anything she seemed to have just missed her one and only child.

''Where is he?'' Naruto enquired.

Tsunami sighed. ''He is at the Land of Iron. He has been there for a whole year now. He left to train in order to become a samurai and protect those he loves and what is important to him like his brother.''

Naruto smiled. He had remembered how he had influenced the boy's life. He had helped make the boy stand up on his own feet and face up to the troubles in his face. He had given the boy hope, and he carried. ''I have no doubt he will return safely and stronger to protect his family and country.''

Tsunami nodded. ''I know he will.''

They then started talking about this and that. Well it was mostly Tsunami asking Naruto questions about this and that. She was more interested in his change. He had answered her questions but making sure to leave some details she did not need to know. He had only questioned about the state of the country. Well, he was happy to know that the country was thriving. His team had done a good job in saving this land. They had gone down as heroes of this land. A bridge that changed the country's fortunes was names after him. He felt honored and proud at the same time. He had already known that since it was named before he left with his team after the bridge was completed.

By the time Tazuna returned, Naruto and Tsunami were already having dinner. The man had not changed. Naruto would have expected him to have grown a bit older, but he was more or less the same as when he came here more than three years ago. ''Ah, Naruto my boy. It is good to see you again, and you have grown well,'' the old man said taking a seat at the dining room.

''It is good to see you too, Tazuna,'' Naruto responded smiling slightly.

''How are you?''

''I am well.'' Naruto responded. The small talk began as Tazuna asked the questions that Tsunami had more or less asked already. Naruto hid his annoyance well at being asked the same questions in the space of a hours. But he answered well without showing anything.

After the dinner, Naruto got to the main reason he had been called. ''What is my mission, Tazuna,'' by now, his smile was gone replaced by the look of a shinobi who wanted to know the details of his mission.

Tazuna became serious. ''A couple of weeks ago, two teens around your height disappeared. A day later, more disappeared. People have been disappearing all over the country. Even today, a boy I used to know disappeared. There have been over 60 people who disappeared. Our samurai investigated the matter, and when they found the location of the suspects, they never returned.''

''The citizens fear for their lives because you don't really know who will be next to disappearing,'' Tsunami added, managing to seem a bit shaken about what is happening in her country.

Naruto was silent for a few moments. ''This is troubling,'' he said. No doubt another vile man with power was doing this. What was wrong with mankind? Could they just not live without thinking of harming the other? Humanity could extinguish itself. ''You people are living in fear of your lives every day. That is unacceptable. You should not feel like that in your own homes. I will handle this matter, just give me the locations of the suspect.''

**The following day**

The place did not seem like it was the right place. It was awfully quite and did not seem like there were people who had disappeared there without a trace. There was no stench of blood that he could smell, it seem like it reeked of death. But Naruto was not deterred. He continued to walk in stealth around the place. It was not a bit far from coast of the country. Walking further into the forest, Naruto could see that there had been explosions that had been set off around the place. No doubt a battle had taken place, but it did not seem like it lasted long. He continued to search for about an hour until he came to a halt.

Naruto stopped looking and dropped to the ground as he saw his targets. They seemed to be enjoying the sun at the beach while they watched the sea. Naruto quickly recognized the two because of their Akatsuki cloaks. They did not seem to be concerned about his presence, but he was sure that they had felt his presence. Two S-rank criminals, he was out of his league. He would not run away though, not until he saw sure he would be killed. He could always to a tactical retreat. There was no shame in doing the right thing.

''Oi, Sasori, looks like we have another one,'' Deidara said, not even looking back to Naruto. They really did not see him as a threat. Well, they were two S-rank criminals, who could blame them for being confident in their own abilities?

''I know, I have sensed him already. Long before you even did,'' Sasori replied calmly as he turned around to face the blond. The blond looked calm as always like he was not even scared of their presence.

''Well that is to be expected of Sasori, hn,'' Deidara responded as he too turned to face Naruto. The blond still had a grin on his face. The blond before him looked capable, he was itching for a good battle. But with Sasori collecting puppets, he doubted he would get the chance.

''Sasori, and Deidara, I have heard much of your exploits. It is truly an honor to stand before you like this,'' Naruto stated in a calm tone. He did not even sound too pleased or anything. These two men were both powerful, despite their way of life, he still respected their power.

''Oh? A Namikaze gracing my presence?''

'Even in Sage mode, it would be difficult to defeat them both. But I can take one of them. If I wound one of them fatally, they will all be forced to retreat. I can get Itachi and Kisame to do the final damage. Both should be within the Fire country.' Nodding to himself, Naruto created a clone with the Kyuubi's chakra. This gave the clone a bit of animalistic features. The clone disappeared in a yellow flash. He gave the clone much chakra to be able to handle teleporting.

''So Sasori, you have been kidnapping people around this place. Since there are no corpses, I believe you have turned them into puppets, meaning they are all dead,'' Naruto stated calmly. ''It is curious though, are you trying to make an army of puppets?''

''I may be...'' Sasori replied flatly. It was not enough for Naruto to conclude anything, the man knew that. The blond could also not get anything from him. He would not say anything. The blond could only speculate and that was fine with him.

''While I do respect your power, I cannot allow you to continue with what you have been doing. Such acts are unacceptable,'' he started moving towards the two as he spoke. His pace was slow, it did not seem like he was going to attack.

''Let me fight him, Sasori,'' Deidara said, seemingly excited.

Sasori ignored him. ''You think you can take both of us?''

''No,'' Naruto responded. He was just about to take another step on the ground, but he suddenly disappeared. In an instant, the blond appeared in front of Sasori. He ignored Deidara in that attempt for an attack. Sasori had good reflexes because the moment Naruto appeared; Sasori's tail was right at him. The tail rose to pierce through his belly, but Naruto jumped up to avoid the blow.

''Are you forgetting about me?'' Deidara yelled as he looked to pummel Naruto to the ground. But the blond quickly disappeared from the path of his attack and created some distance to avoid being kicked.

''Don't get involved, Deidara,'' Sasori stated, looking forward to take Naruto on by himself. He was going to see what this Namikaze could do. The last one could do some incredible things; it was perhaps time to see what this one could do. If he could do some wonderful things, then he would have a wonderful puppet to add to his collection.

''Fine, but don't take time with him. We have to leave here before there is trouble. We have stayed here long enough,'' Deidara stated as he jumped back to create a distance between himself and Sasori. He would allow the man have his fun, only because he respected him.

Naruto raced towards Sasori again, but this time he created a Rasengan on his right palm. Sasori was not someone he could engage in a taijutsu battle. He was like a scorpion; a way for dealing with a gigantic scorpion was to destroy it. Using Jutsu was the most logical chance to destroy that thing. He got close to the thing, but before he could make a move to smash his Rasengan towards his opponent, the tail moved far faster than he would think. Naruto managed to tilt his head to avoid a blow that would have pierced through his head. It was obvious that the thing was made of steel. His body was not stronger than steel. When he avoided the tail, he did not stop moving, but before hit Sasori, the tail was right back at him again.

Naruto dispersed his Rasengan as he bended down. He was again forced to fall to the ground as the Tail came down towards him with a horizontal slash. He managed to avoid being pierced by it and moved away before standing up on his feet. Because he was still close, the tail reared towards him again, but Naruto jumped up in the last minute to avoid the blow. The tail hit the ground, as Naruto was above it, he formed a Rasengan quickly and hit the tail with it. The jutsu forced the tail to hit the ground before Naruto flashed away to create some distance. A small explosion had been set off by his Rasengan.

When debris created by the explosion cleared, the tail was retracted back to Sasori, still looking ''healthy''. Naruto was not deterred by it though. He just figured he would have to add more power behind his attack next time. He had to be careful though not to hit by that tail because according to Intel from Itachi, Sasori had created some deadly poison. A poison could not kill him because it would take a lot of time for its effects to start affecting him. And with the Kyuubi trying to clean his system, it would take long for one to kill him if it had the capabilities to do so. But because he had Tsunade, she could create an antidote before anything bad happened. Nevertheless, that did not mean that he would not have to be careful. He was not immune to poison, after all.

He stood up and rushed towards Sasori again, but this time, he had kunais with him. He jumped up into the air and threw about five kunais at Sasori. The tail attempted to bat them all way to safety. But they were not just normal kunais, as such, they exploded. Naruto had thrown them with explosive tags. But when the explosion cleared, Sasori was standing still. As though nothing happened, his tail was swinging behind him in slow movements.

'That thing is very strong,' Naruto noted.

''This is becoming boring,'' Sasori stated. ''You did state that you could not defeat both of us. That leads to wonder why you would fight when you know you can't defeat us. Your first attack also seemed to serve a purpose. Of which was fulfilled when I told Deidara not to interfere. You are only stalling, but who are you waiting for?''

Naruto did not answer the question. ''Your mind is sharp as they say it is,'' the blond commented. He was not going to answer the question set before him. Since he had been caught already, he could get a little serious.

Naruto charged towards Sasori, but the man shot senbons at him. They were many of them that came towards him. The blond did not do any hand seals, he simply muttered, **''Wind Style: Gale palm,**'' the jutsu spend towards the senbons in great speed, but it did not stop them all.

''Too weak,'' Naruto muttered as he jumped back holding a single hand seal. **''Wind Style:** **Wind Breakthrough,**'' he sent powerful gusts of winds towards the senbons. The jutsu was released quickly a second after the first one because had it been a second later, the senbons would have hit him dead on and it would not have been healthy for him. The powerful gusts of wind blew the senbons away from the blond. Naruto walked towards one of the senbons and picked it up.

''Poison,'' he said to himself. He turned towards Sasori again, before charging towards the man. ''Wind Style: Wind bullet!'' he did so with a single hand seal. He shot several wind bullets off his mouth towards Sasori. The man brought out his tail to try to shield himself from the attack. The bullets hit the man and some ripped through his Akatsuki cloak. But there was no extensive damage done to the man - that was probably a puppet.

''Your control over the wind Element is applaudable. You can even do some jutsus without weaving hand signs. And some jutsus you perform with a single hand seal, I am impressed.'' Sasori stated. But his voice said otherwise. He did not even sound impressed. But his words said so. ''However, I no longer have time to play with you.''

Before he could make any move, Naruto did. **''Wind Style: Furious winds,''** a storm erupted from the front of the blond and began to move towards Sasori. But before the furious winds that seemed to be capable to tearing anything apart, they exploded. Naruto had noticed that Deidara had made his move. He must have thrown one of his explosive clays into the winds to disrupt them, hence the explosion. A cleaver way to deal with the storm. Someone like Sasori would not have dodge those winds.

Before anything could proceed further, his clone appeared with Itachi and Kisame. But the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke after exerting all of its chakra. ''It seems like I am going to have some fun,'' Kisame stated gripping his large sword tightly. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the two. Itachi seemed stoic as always.

''I had no idea you were working with those two,'' Sasori stated. He was already in air riding on top off a clay bird created by Deidara. ''But we will fight some other day.''

''Don't worry Itachi, I will have my day with your and I will make you pay for what you did, hn!'' Deidara exclaimed as the bird continued to climb up to the air.

''You are still pissed about that?'' Kisame questioned, sounding amused. ''They are going away...aren't you going to do something Itachi? If they get away, I will have to fight the gaki because I did not come here for nothing.''

Itachi sighed inwardly. Looking at Naruto, he did not seem concerned about the fact that the enemy was escaping. They were flying towards the sea, and once there, they would escape from them. He must have something planned, Itachi thought. ''Naruto will you...''

Naruto disappeared in a yellow flash. ''What the hell?!'' Deidara yelled as Naruto appeared on top of Sasori. But before they could react, Naruto jumped up into the air. Both man had not seen this one coming and Sasori's tail was not fast enough to catch the blond. He had just appeared out of nowhere via a yellow flash. It was that cursed jutsu, Sasori thought.

Naruto joined both his hands together and raised them above his head. **''Wind hammer**!'' his hands moved downwards and in the same motion but at a greater speed, a force of wind crashed onto his opponents. The wind had much power being that in the space they were in, the wind was stronger than below. The force sent them crushing on the ground in great speeds, along with the bird. Naruto flashed towards his allies.

''I will watch,'' Naruto said. ''You and Kisame have been working together for some time. Your teamwork will be fine. I on the other hand have not trained with Kisame to fight with him. I would fight if I was fighting with you. Our teamwork is perfect. But Kisame does not look like he will watch this one,'' the fish-like man was already walking towards both Sasori and Deidara.

''If you really wanted to fight, you would have called me only because you know Kisame could never sit back at a fight against another S-rank shinobi,'' Itachi stated as he walked towards his partner, who seemed to be making fun of Deidara.

Naruto merely smiled as he jumped back. He watched as the fireworks began. While they fought, Naruto realized that Itachi was not moving as fast as he usually did. He would have to speak to the man about it. Itachi was not the one to go easy on an opponent. He did not like to play around like Kisame was doing with Sasori. It also seemed that Deidara held a grudge against Itachi. Naruto could hear him cursing loudly at the Uchiha. But the Uchiha was having none of it. He had defeated Deidara before, and easily. He did it again. Kisame on the other hand, had fun destroying hundreds of Sasori's puppets. The man had destroyed the puppet Sasori used to hide himself. The real Sasori came out to play...

''I never really thought Sasori could fight that hard. That puppet bastard almost killed me,'' Kisame said looking at his messed up cloak. It was torn all sides, a testimony that his battle with Sasori had been epic. But he seemed not to be too caring about his bruises or his damaged cloak. In fact, it seemed to thrill him that almost been killed.

''He was not famous for nothing,'' Naruto responded as he sealed both Deidara and Sasori's heads. You did not have fame as Sasori had because you had a mouth. The man was a master of the art of puppets and understood the human body well. Kisame was a monster on his own right. He was hailed as the monster of Kiri after all.

''What do you want with their bounties?'' Itachi questioned. He figured the only reason Naruto would take the heads was because he wanted the bounties on both S-rank criminals. Both of them had a combined bounty of 110mil ryo.

''I need to make use of the money. There is a situation in Sunagakure that will require a large sum of money. I will fill you on the details later. But I have to get more bounties to raise enough funds,'' Naruto responded. He had another source of money, but he preferred not to touch it now.

''This gig is becoming even more interesting,'' Kisame stated with a large grin. Shinobi who had large bounties on their heads, were strong and would give him much fun. He had not thought things would become this interesting. But it was for a good cause.

''I have collected all bingo books of all great villages and selected a few criminals who have large bounty on their heads, but we will get onto that later.''

Naruto created a clone and set it back to Tazuna. It could last for a few hours while he talks with Itachi at their hideout. He was not going to tell Tazuna of everything that had happened. But he would do well to ensure the man knew that everyone kidnapped was dead. The good news would be that the main problem had been dealt with. Even though lives had been lost and would never return, the culprits had been dealt with. They would never harm anyone again. The people of the wave country would be free again. But some will surely be mourning the loss of their loved ones.

**Meanwhile…**

''So that is the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki,'' a deep voice spoke within the shadows of the forest as he had been watching Naruto ever since he came into the Wave country. He was interested in seeing the Jinchuriki battle. But he did not get to see it. What he has seen of the blond had been in own abilities, but he had never seen the blond fight as a Jinchuriki. He had thought against two, the blond use the Kyuubi's power, but that had not happened. Instead, the blond called his allies.

''As it stands now, it seems that he will not use the Kyuubi's power unless forced. We still have yet to see the full extent of his capabilities,'' another voice spoke.

''It appears so.''

''Should you not engage the target to see and experience the true extent of his capabilities? The last time you ''fought'' with him, Orochimaru collected some data, but it is still not enough.''

''We will, but let us give it some time.'' The voice paused for a moment. ''Regardless, having the Kyuubi inside of him makes him a threat. But if he cannot control its power he is nothing.''

''Yes, but we still don't know if he can control its power or not.''

''We will find out soon. He is quite different from other Jinchurikis we have observed so far. None of them can engage in a serious fight without using their Bijuus power. But he does not use it.''

''A way to see how far he control its power is if your faced him yourself. Or we can put him in the path of Orochimaru. That snake seems to have gotten new upgrades and has become a lot more powerful.''

''If we do that, one of them will die. Naruto will never allow Orochimaru to continue to live on and the snake would rather bisect Naruto than allow him to continue living.''

''I was under the impression that you wanted all of them dead.''

''No; Naruto has the potential to rival me if he can fully control the Kyuubi's power. I cannot have him die now before the games even begin. And Orochimaru has a tendency to make things interesting. I allowed him to live because I knew his devious mind could work out things to make them interesting and he has some use.''

''What will be your next move then?''

''Iwa; Let us go see if I can get the Tsuchikage to follow my lead. But first thing first,'' the voice paused for a moment. ''I do not like fools who eavesdrop of private conversation.''

A masked man appeared before the two and held out a scroll. ''I was sent to give you this.''

''According the data Orochimaru installed into my memories, and judging by that mask, you are ROOT - Danzo's lap dogs,'' the man took the scroll and held out his right hand. ''Message received,'' he said as his right hand shot a deadly black energy that turned the man who had appeared into ash.

''Aren't you going to look at what Danzo may want with you?''

''That man has a wicked mind like Orochimaru. But he is a fool and has grown old. He should be dead like the Sandaime. According to Orochimaru's data, he has been craving for the position of Hokage for a long time and even attempted to have the Sandaime Hokage killed so he could claim the position. But he failed. And that is all he is, a failure. If he manages to gain control over Konoha, I may talk to him.''

''But Orochimaru's data also does state that Danzo is a capable man. He has been working in the dark for many years now and knows how to clean messes. He is also ruthless and has a sick obsession with protecting Konoha. Don't you think he would make a perfect tool?''

''He could, but I have no interest in someone as him. If he makes one wrong move, Tsunade and Jiraiya will kill him without mercy. His little division has no value before my eyes. His right arm does put him on other level, but he cannot be on the same level of power as Orochimaru.''

''He may surprise you one day.''

''No doubt he will. Data shows that he knows how to pull many rabbits from his hat.''

**That concludes chapter 15. I will probably add chapter 16 soon because I think this chapter was a little dull. Hopefully the next chapter will include some interesting things.**

**I am not thinking of making this story a harem. **

**Who made Sasuke heir? Maybe Tsunade. Naruto was not even expecting him to be present at the meeting. **

**As someone suggested, I will try to use thesaurus a bit more often. That will be in the next chapters though. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 16**

''I did not think you would return so soon,'' Tsunade stated as Naruto entered the office alone. The blond was carrying the Sword of the Thunder God on his back. He had been putting it aside over the past days since he was always in the office or in meetings. It brought a smile to her seeing him carry the sword Tobirama used to carry. The room occupants were Godaime Hokage, Shizune and Sakura.

''I finished the mission early. Have you forgotten that I no longer have to worry about travelling,'' Naruto responded as he produced a scroll to Tsunade. He nodded at the other two who in turn smiled back at him. It would be rather rude if he were to continue speaking with Tsunade without greeting them. Rudeness only pushed people away from you.

''Still, I would have thought it would take a few days.'' She paused for a moment.

''The mission would be have been troublesome. But it was not since the enemy had already completed what they were doing.''

''Who was the enemy?''

''Two S-rank criminals from Akatsuki, Deidara and Sasori. They escaped from the country of Wave after I battled with Sasori for a moment. I did not pursue them since I knew that they would not return because their objective was met. Since I did not get the enemy, I did not take the pay since I did not kill them,'' Naruto responded casually. ''A detailed report is in that scroll in writing.''

''Wait a minute. You attempted to fight S-rank criminals on your own? Do you have a death wish?'' The voice of the Godaime had been raised high as she spoke. She did not sound too pleased by the report. It would have been okay if it was Jiraiya, the man was a Sannin, but Naruto was Naruto. She could not have him fighting S-rank criminals, not yet anyway.

''Relax,'' Naruto said trying to cool the Hokage down. ''I knew I could never defeat them. I was just not going to run away because I knew that they would escape once they knew they had been found. I am strong, but I am not arrogant enough to attempt to fight 2 S-rank shinobi without some plan.''

''What was your plan?'' That did not seem to calm the blond Hokage down.

''Pretend like I was waiting for reinforcements so that they would leave the country. I knew if I did not battle seriously they would assume that I was stalling. And since I have been spotted travelling with Jiraiya, they would think I was stalling for him to arrive, forcing them to flee,'' a smooth lie. He hated doing it. But he could not tell Tsunade that he had been waiting for Itachi and Kisame to arrive.

''That was some great plan,'' Tsunade drawled, her tone dripping with barely hidden sarcasm. ''What if they had found out you were lying and captured you?''

''They would have to catch me first. I do not believe that either of them was fast enough to do that,'' Naruto responded coolly.

''Don't think that you cannot be caught because you are fast. Don't get too arrogant in your speed.''

''Tsunade-sama,'' Shizune intervened in a stern tone. ''Does it even appear that Naruto is arrogant? If anything, Naruto has shown that he is anything but arrogant. His plan was risky but a good one. Just calm down and think with your mind than our heart for once.''

Tsunade glared at Shizune. But the medic nin held her own stare without flinching. Despite her fierce loyalty, Shizune was not afraid to voice her thoughts.

Naruto stood up while the two were stared at each other. ''Shizune, when you are free, come and see me before I leave the village later on.'' With that, the blond disappeared from the office.

Shizune sighed. ''You know Tsunade-sama, if you keep reacting like that when Naruto says he faced strong opponents; he won't be honest with you next time.''

Sakura who had been quite, nodded in agreement. ''I would understand that you care for him, but Naruto is not like when he was still a genin. Back then, he would have fought them with the aim to defeat them, even when they were much stronger than him. But now, he is different. As he said, he knew he could not defeat them. That sounds like someone who knows his own limits. And even if they had discovered his plan, if it got dangerous, he could have just flashed away using the **Hiraishin.''**

''Not you too, Sakura,'' Tsunade said before sighing. ''Perhaps I may have overreacted a little.''

''A little?'' Shizune questioned with a raised brow. ''Let me guess, overreacting would be pinning him to the wall?'' he tone was a rare sarcastic one. It even surprised the Godaime that the woman could use sarcasm.

**A little while later**

Naruto was preparing everything he needed for his visit to Kirigakure. He ought to have left in the morning, but leaving later would do. He could get into the village any time he wanted to. He had not told the Mizukage the exact date of which he was gone come to her village. But he had informed her that he would visit soon. If he does arrive later on, he would sleep for the night before discussing with her the terms of the treaty the following day. If he announces his visit well, he could get her to prepare what she needed to prepare for their talks. It would not be healthy if he were to arrive before she had fully prepared herself for the talks.

His preparations included going through the Villages history. He needed to understand everything about the village before looking into getting a treaty with it. He had already gone through everything; he just needed to ensure that he had not forgotten anything. It was never a bad thing to do so just in case. It would be embarrassing if he were to forget some details while they are busy talking. A blunder like that would cause the treaties to halt.

Nevertheless, his clones had done much work on getting everything to his head. He did not only study the history, he also studied the latest of what was happening. Going with outdated information would also be an embarrassment to him. He was just glad for Jiraiya's spy network. But Kisame had been the real supplier of much Intel on Kirigakure.

A treaty with Kirigakure will surely benefit Konoha well and also Kiri. Both villages stood to gain much from each other. Tsunade should have realized this and try to put on a word to get something done. But the woman was busy with internal affairs that she did not consider other villages. Of course, when a village was a threat she would be alarmed. But when a village posed no threat, the woman had done nothing to unite with it. He was trying to get the villages united so they could have a nation that is at peace. It would not be an easy task though, but he will ensure that it happened. He had already done the ground work.

Someone walked into his office without even knocking; the blond quickly looked to see who it was - Anko. There was not a change in Naruto's expression when he saw her. He just went back looking through his documents without giving the woman another glance. Anko was first to speak. ''So this is where you have been hiding,'' she walked behind his desk and sat on top of it on his right hand.

''Hiding is not the correct term, but nothing will change your view point on the matter. Nevertheless, I have been merely occupied within the office doing important work,'' Naruto responded calmly. He did not look at her as he spoke, nor he did he seem concerned about anything or about the fact that she was sitting on his desk. The blond knew that speaking about it would not get the woman to sit on a chair, leaving it as it was saved him some breath.

''Important work? I don't see that being important work. You know you should let this office work be done by old geezers. You are too young to be occupied by paperwork. You need to get out of here and spill some blood or you will lose it,'' the woman folded her hands on top of her breasts as she spoke. Seriously, she could never understand why someone so young would accept something like this. Office work was for old geezers who had nothing better to do in life. A young man ought to be doing what other young man do, having fun.

''That is your view of the matter. However, my view is different from yours and I don't feel like even explaining myself,'' Naruto responded coolly with a shrug. He never looked at Anko as he spoke. It seemed to irk her greatly that he was not looking at her but his paperwork.

''I never asked you to explain. I was merely stating a fact,'' Anko drawled as she moved in front of him. Her whole body was on the desk and she was sitting on top of Naruto's paperwork. This made it impossible for Naruto to ignore her presence. In her mind, he was ignoring her because he was not looking at her.

Naruto sighed, so much for getting some work done. He should set a seal on the office. The seal would only allow one to enter if he said so. This would certainly be good as he would avoid annoyances such as this. ''What do you want Anko?''

Not deterred by his question, Anko responded curtly. ''I am bored.''

''So?'' Naruto asked with a raised brow. This was a first. He did not think the woman would come to bother him just for that. While he would admit that they got well when Anko was not being mischievous, he had certainly not expected her to come to him just to tell him she was bored.

''I thought we could do something,'' her tone seemed suggestive and the grin on her face did not betray that. If Naruto had been anyone, he would have been blushing at the second thought that came to his mind, but he did none of that. But before he could reply another voice spoke.

''Do what?'' Tsunade questioned, hands on her chest with narrowed look between Naruto and Anko. Shizune and Sakura were also standing beside her. The latter seemed to be in deep thought judging by her expression.

''Nothing that lover boy has not done before,'' Anko responded before Naruto could. For a moment it looked like she was not going to leave Naruto's desk, but after a few moments, she stood up and whispered something into Naruto ear. No one could tell what she had said because Naruto did not give an emotional display on his face. After that, the woman disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

''What was that about, Naruto?'' Sakura asked, beating Tsunade to the punch. She was curious at the scene that had just played before her, hence her question.

''I was only expecting, Shizune, what are you two doing here?'' Naruto questioned, ignoring Sakura's question.

''Answer the question, brat!'' Tsunade suddenly exclaimed as she took a seat along with Shizune as Sakura closed the door.

''I don't have to.'' Naruto responded in a firm tone. He had not time for this kind of conversation with Tsunade. ''What are they doing here, Shizune?''

''Tsunade-sama insisted since the project also affects them.''

Naruto looked straight at Tsunade. ''I would understand why Sakura would be here, but despite being a medical ninja yourself, planning does not necessary include you. We had discussed that already,'' the blond stated. He really did not want to deal with her at this time.

''Wow, he is actually not going to answer the question,'' Sakura mumbled to herself. But she soon realizes that it had been enough for everyone to hear her. She quickly covered her mouth. It was no matter, but she had not thought that they would all hear her.

''Letting aside of the fact that you did not answer my question, I am here because I want to be. I am the Godaime Hokage after all, and besides I have to see you make the plans so I can correct you when you are going the wrong way,'' The blonde Hokage responded with a straight face.

''I did not forget that you are the Hokage, and the actual planning has already been done.'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''I do believe that your main reason to be here is to avoid your work.'' He then took one file from the files on his desk; he took out a few papers and handed them to Shizune. ''This is the rough work of everything we have discussed about.''

The curriculum in the academy was going to be changed next year. It would not be an ideal choice to enforce the changes in the middle of the year; a better choice was enforcing them in a new year. One of the changes to be implemented was that the academy lessons would include a subject in Medical Ninjutsu. It will only be theory. The class would be offered to aspiring 30 students for the next year only. This was only because of the small budget that would be made available and the available teachers could only handle that number. But things would get better if there was good progress and the students showed the mental capabilities to practice medical ninjutsu.

This program is designed because there is a lack of top-level medical nins. There shortage was everywhere. Naruto wanted all academy graduates to have the basics on medical ninjutsu but the current budget did not allow that. There was a shortage of funds. This was not only the project that would start in the next year. There were a few of them - that meant that a great deal of money would be used. Unless Konoha could attract more money, then the projects would be started slowly.

**Iwagakure**

''Why do you have to be so stubborn old man?!'' Kurotsuji yelled at her grandfather. Seriously, he could be really stubborn when he wanted to be. It was damn right annoying to her since she had to deal with him every day. The old man was really difficult to handle some times. His stubbornness would get him killed one day.

''Don't raise your voice too loud, I can hear you perfectly well when speaking in your normal tone,'' the Sandaime Tsuchikage replied calmly, not even seeming concerned by his granddaughters yelling. She always acted like this, so it was nothing new to him. Getting worked about it would only give him an unwanted headache. He certainly did not need any time soon.

''Are you sure? Old farts sometimes lose their hearing because of their advanced age...'' she grinned as she watched his brows twitch. Sometimes it was fun being her. She could get to see her grandfather twitch like that. Anyone else would be threatened dearly. But her? He could not do anything to her. She was his beloved granddaughter after all.

''I am not that old,'' Onoki replied giving his granddaughter a slight glare. But he shook his head after a second so not to get drawn into another meaningless argument with her.

''Really? I bet you can't even run a lap around the village without suffering from back pains,'' her grinned widened because she knew that Onoki suffered from back pains. They were a bother to him. Sometimes she really did pity him, sometimes she did not. But even so with those pains, he was still the Tsuchikage and was still really strong. He was no weakling.

''Do you have to remind me?'' Onoki asked silently, wincing at the thought of his back problems. Just thinking about it did not dwell well with him. His back really did give him trouble and it had a neck to acting up in crucial moments.

''You asked for it,'' Kurotsuji responded with a shrug of her shoulders. ''But seriously grandfather, are you really not going to do anything about the bastard Namikaze?''

''No, not now at least,'' Ohnoki replied firmly. ''He has not done anything against us and what his father did was nothing personal, it was war. Everyone knew there would be casualties. A pity those who lost their lives, but our shinobi also killed Konoha shinobi.''

''But that is different from how he did it. It was not a fight, he butchered Iwagakure shinobi.'' Kurotsuji argued in a calm yet firm tone. It was quite different from the tone she had been using earlier, which was loud and annoying.

''True, but what do you think will happen if Naruto is killed by our shinobi? Do you think Konoha will just sit around and do nothing? Do you think other villages which the boy has made himself a hero within will stand still and do nothing?''

''Of course they won't. But we can handle it. We have recovered well from out loses in the past years, not to mention we have two Jinchurikis. I don't think that any small village will even attempt to start a war with us, we would crush them,'' Kurotsuji responded with an arrogant smirk, causing her grandfather to shake his head. The girl had potential, but she was still too young and naive. She did not understand certain things. Well, at least he was here to teach her those things.

''Don't be too arrogant, Kurotsuji!'' This time Onoki's voice was a little loud, but still holding much power and authority. ''We may have recovered well from the past war. But Konoha is still called the strongest Hidden village. It has allies, in Sunagakure. The village also has the strongest Bijuu in existence, not to mention that there are still two Sannins.''

''I know that, but we-'' Onoki cut her off.

''Quite! I will hear no more of this!'' His voice was demanding. ''Even if we do win. Have you ever paused to think that it would be at a cost? More families will lose their loved ones in this thirst for revenge. And I will not risk the lives of my men in pursuit of pitiful revenge. Do you understand me?''

Kurotsuji said nothing. She merely folded her hands across her chest, and huffed and puffed.

Onoki shook his head again. Seriously, he was getting too old for this. Why couldn't the brat just understand? ''You need to focus on the operation to expand our territory since you will be the one leading our forces.''

Before Kurotsuji could respond, another voice spoke out of nowhere. ''Perhaps I could be help, Tsuchikage, if you fear the power of Konoha.''

Onoki snapped his fingers as his ANBU appeared at surrounded the man who had appeared inside his office out of nowhere. He was certainly not getting a good vibe from this man. Still he scoffed at the mention that he feared Konoha's power. He did not fear the power of the village. He was merely concerned about the safety of his village. ''Who are you and what do you want?'' He demanded looking straight at the stranger. A curious thought came to him, how did he even get here?

''Please call me Juubi. I am only here to offer my help.''

Juubi? Ohnoki thought. ''I don't recall asking anyone for help.''

''No you did not, but I overheard your conversation with your granddaughter. I offer a solution in dealing with Konoha and in any plans you might have.''

Onoki scoffed. ''I don't need your help. ANBU, take him to the Torture Corps,'' the old man ordered.

Before the ANBU could do anything, the stranger spoke. ''You don't see Naruto as a threat. But in the path you trying to venture in, you will soon find out that he is much more of a problem than his father was. Until then...'' the man disappeared in a flash of darkness. It went like he had not been there.

''Go out and look for him!'' Ohnoki yelled. Someone could not just come and go within his office. The ANBU did not need to be told twice, they quickly disappeared to search for the stranger. It would be difficult since his scent had also disappeared. It had been like he was never there to begin with.

''What the hell was that old man?'' Kurotsuji questioned looking straight at her grandfather who looked absent minded. But she had ignored that fact to get her question answered. Sadly for her, her question was ignored.

**Later that day**

It was well that he had thought of marking this place when he had come here with Jiraiya. If he had not, he would have been forced to take a ship, and that would be time consuming. Especially now when he was used to teleporting to wherever he wants to. The fact that he had to mark a place to be able to teleport bothered him though. A smaller example of the Hiraishin was the shunshin no Jutsu, it was teleportation. But Shunshin had its limits; the Flying Thunder God worked around those limits and was much faster than shunshin. It would take some much research to incorporate both jutsus. But, he knew that such a jutsu would have drawbacks. The current possibility was loss of speed. He has never really been forced to use the level 2 of the Flying Thunder God. His father also did not use it when fighting against the Raikage and his brother. So, he was not worried much about that.

Sighing, Naruto began to walk forward. The sun had already taken its rest. Naruto had thought he would arrive before that took place, but he was here in this time so there was nothing to be done about it. He just had to match on to Kirigakure. It would be the first time he stepped inside the village gates. He had always heard of this nation but never came here. Despite being a small nation, Kirigakure was not a a weak village. Before the blood purges, the village had some of the strongest clans in the Elemental Nations. Who could forget clans such as the Kaguya and the Yuki? The blood purges surely have destroyed much of the villages military power. This may have brought the village down.

In the shinobi world, military spoke more than anything. A weak village was seen bellow the stronger ones. At least Konoha did not try to enforce her superiority over other villages. The village tried by all means to do talking rather than threatening to lay siege to any village that refused her. Perhaps if Danzo had been in charge of the village, he would have forced her into endless wars with other villages so she could reign supreme over the villages. The man had a messed up view of things. But Naruto was glad that the man was not in charge of Konoha.

''Halt!'' A guard yelled as the blond approached the gates. Naruto had been walking at a relatively slow pace and was busy in his thoughts. He did not even notice when he had finally reached the village. But surely if an enemy had shown up, he would have been on alert.

''State your name!'' Another guard yelled walking towards him. It was the customary act for guards when they see a stranger. This was done for the security of the village. Everyone wanted to be safe. But still one could lie without them finding out.

''Namikaze Naruto,'' the blond responded coolly, not even the bothered by the imposing figure before him. The man that had asked the question was a very big man. It was one of those who would crush you with just a single punch. The amusing thing with shinobi was that even when a man looked like he was a power house by build, he who did not look that much could still overpower him.

''Mizukage-sama was expecting your visit in the next few days,'' the guard stated as Naruto handed him his papers. He looked at the blond carefully trying to see if it had been a replacement jutsu. Mei had informed her guards that a Namikaze Naruto would be visiting the village soon, but she had said in a few days.

''I used a different method of transportation that fast tracked my journey, if you could call it,'' Naruto responded calmly. He was not going to make a fuss over anything, but he would answer the questions to ensure that he left the gate in good relations with the guards. It would be troubling if he started with conflicts.

''The only transport to here is s ship. You can't run over the sea to here,'' one of the guards said, with a hint of suspicion in his tone. But Naruto shrugged it off.

''My method of transportation should not really matter, now should it? There should be no problem if I am not a fake,'' the blond was as calm as he could be when he responded. This was a question we would rather not answer. It would be utterly foolish for him to walk around telling people that he could use the Flying Thunder God technique.

''It is not, but we just want to get all the details to avoid allowing an intruder to enter the village under false pretenses,'' the guard explained lightly.

''That is understandable,'' Naruto responded, keeping his tone light as the guard.

Before anything could be said further, an ANBU appeared before the blond. He spoke in a tone of authority as all ANBU do, ''I will take care of this,'' he said looking straight at the guard.

''Hai,'' the guard responded before returning to his post. It was almost amusing how some shinobi flinch under the gazes of the stoic ANBUs. Sure they were the elite in a village, but some shinobis seem to fear them. An order from an ANBU was followed without much fuss. Perhaps it was because they did not like it when one undermines their authority. They were quite strict and never thinking twice about using force when the situation called for it.

''I will take you to the office of the Mizukage,'' It did not sound like he was giving Naruto a choice in the matter, his tone just sounded like Naruto just had to obey silently and everything would be well.

''I had thought it would be well if I saw a bit of the village before I see the Mizukage,'' he kept his expression clean, not willing to show anything to the ANBU. He had stood face to face with the almighty Kyuubi, battled with Itachi, and Orochimaru, even when the latter had been toying with him. Was he going to be frightened of an ANBU? Hell no.

''You will have time to see the village, but I have orders to follow,'' Naruto did not respond. The ANBU placed his right hand on the blonds' shoulder, and they disappeared from existence, leaving no trace of that they had been standing at the gate. Naruto had not made any attempt to fight the ANBU, though. He allowed himself to be taken away with ease. It was the best choice for both him and the ANBU.

**Mizukage office**

The ANBU did not say anything as they appeared inside the office. He simply gave Mei a stiff nod before disappearing back to his post. The office was quite, it also seemed peaceful. It was for the first time that Naruto had ever felt such peace within the office of a Kage. Gaara's office had been peaceful, but not as calming as this one.

Naruto looked at the beautiful woman sitting behind the desk. She was also looking at him with an expressionless face. But for some reason, she got a smirk on her face. Perhaps it was because he was staring at her slightly. He would not call it staring at her though.

The blond was first to speak his thoughts, ''I see the extent of your beauty has not been fabricated. Though, the elaboration was not quite accurate. I had been told that you were a very beautiful woman, but it appears to me that the report was not a lie. No wonder Jiraiya always gets a dreamy look when your name is mentioned,'' He spoke as he walked towards the desk. He stopped before taking a seat. The woman waited until he could sit before she could respond.

''My, aren't you a brave one,'' the Godaime Mizukage responded leaning back at her chair. Her smile never left as she looked straight at the blond.

''Brave?'' Naruto gave a small smile. ''Perhaps. Nevertheless, I was merely stating a fact.''

Mei's smile broadened for a moment. ''You don't look too bad yourself. You are quite a fine young man. Still, it is not every day that you get a young man who speaks his mind without fear. The young men of today tend to be very shy around woman.''

''Lack of self-confidence, fear, and some thoughts can run wild making it difficult to think straight,'' Naruto responded as he brought out his hand to Mei. The woman gladly accepted it with a smile. ''Namikaze Naruto. I am the one who wrote to you. I have never met you in person before, but today I have.''

''Terumi Mei, Godaime Mizukage. This is also the first time I meet with you, and I must say, it is quite a pleasure to see you,'' The Godaime stated ever so smiling softly at the blond. She was staring into his blue eyes for the longest time as if she was trying to find something. But even if she was looking for something, she would not have found anything, Naruto's eyes showed the same thing on his face.

''I was not expecting you to be here so soon. I had thought it would take a few days for you to get here,'' Mei added looking at the blond calmly.

''As I told the guards, I used a faster method of coming here. Teleportation if you are curious,'' Naruto stated. Teleportation was a faster method of travelling to longer distance. The distance it could take a week or days to reach, was reached within minutes with the teleportation technique.

''The Flying Thunder God technique I presume,'' if she was expecting Naruto to respond, she would be disappointed. The blond did no such thing. ''You will have to wait till tomorrow so we can get to the matter you came here.''

''I had not expected anything less than that. Darkness has already started to fill the village. Night is just around the corner. You also seem tired as though you had been working hard all day,'' Naruto responded calmly. He had not expected her to say that they should quickly begin their talks. There was still tomorrow, so there was no need to rush things.

''You have no idea,'' Mei said, referring to Naruto's last words. The work today had been rather heavy, but she still had some work to do. She would be done in an hour or two though. After that, she could go home and rest. ''One of my ANBU will show you a hotel, the village will pay. I have to finish my work.''

Naruto nodded as he stood up. ''I will talk to you tomorrow then,'' the blond stated as an ANBU appeared beside him.

''If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to call me. I will send a message for you tomorrow when I am ready. If I finish here early, I might be the one to fetch you for our talks,'' Mei added.

But Naruto did not respond. He simply followed the ANBU out of the office silently. He would get a chance to get a glimpse of the village while he goes to the hotel. Tomorrow would represent a good chance for seeing much of the village.

Naruto sighed tiredly as he threw himself in his hotel bed. The ANBU that had accompanied him here would be standing watch on him to ensure that nothing happened to him. He did not think that anyone would actually think of attacking him, but it did not hurt making precautions. If Mei was offering to guard him, why would he refuse that offer? He also knew that the main goal of the guard was not to simply protect him, but it was also to keep an eye on him to ensure that he did not wonder somewhere else he was not supposed to. Trust was really hard to come by in the shinobi world. He had not problem with anything, it was to be expected in this cruel world he was living in. No one trusted the other, especially shinobi.

That is why he sought to change this world.

Using the Hiraishin to travel longer distances was putting some strain on his body than he had first thought. He had used his clones some time back then to teleport some large things and a number of people, but it did nothing to him. Perhaps it was because the jutsu he had used was designed specially for teleporting large things. It did take a lot of chakra to activate the seal though. But using this Hiraishin to travel longer distances was putting some strain on his body. He had figured that the jutsu had not been made for teleporting to long distances but it was made with a battlefield in mind. The jutsu was created for instant speed, not for teleporting to far away locations, hence the strain. But he would work on a way around it. The strain was nothing too troublesome though. It just took a little out of him than when teleporting instantly in shorter distances.

It was still early to sleep; he could not possibly sleep now. He took out a special storage scroll that he created and opened it. He then summoned his things. Putting the other things aside, Naruto picked up blank papers and started to do the finishing touches on his book. He would be finishing it within a few days, especially since he could spend all night working on it. But since he was here on business, he could not afford to spend all night standing. He would have to get some much needed sleep.

**The following morning**

While many found morning to be a time to become irate, Naruto actually liked the morning. The weather was quite chilled and calm. It was a lot peaceful than day. By sun rise, he had already wakened up and was putting a few things together. Last night he had ended up writing more words than he would have thought. It turned out that he could compile everything nicely and submit his material to a publisher. He had yet to find a good one though. But Jiraiya would surely help him that.

A knock on the door, and he was already opening it. The Mizukage had come to fetch him herself. That was a bit of a surprise, but then again, she had said she might fetch him herself if things worked out well for her. Still, he had thought they would talk in the afternoon or a bit later on. He had yet to eat anything.

''I was not expecting to be called this early,'' despite being already awake, he was not expecting it.

''Good morning to you too,'' Mei said with a small smile. The blond had not greeted, she thought she may do it for him. ''I wanted to get it done quickly so I can plan ahead. And I figured you had yet to eat anything.''

''Breakfast with your guest... If you had not said that one would have been led to believe that you just want to finish up early so to get rid of me,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''Your guess is correct, I have not eaten anything. Well then, shall we?''

Mei smiled. ''Follow me.''

Naruto followed her as she led him to a restaurant. They did not eat at the hotel even though they offered meals for their customers. Mei seemed to know a good place to get some breakfast. He just followed her without question. He was certain that Kiri served some meals that were quite different from what he normally ate. Still, he believed that there was nothing better than a home cooked meal. The meal cooked at home was satisfactory, especially when you share it with your loved ones.

A pity he had to eat his food alone.

''You have quite the respect from your village,'' Naruto commented looking at the respectful bows and greetings from civilians and shinobi alike. They were being directed to the Mizukage as they walked about the streets towards a restaurant. The respect this people gave her was much more than Konoha gave to Tsunade. It was something similar to what Konoha showed to the late Sandaime. The villagers really did love the old man.

''It took some hard work to get them like that,'' Mei replied smiling, somewhat glad that the blond had noticed this reality.

''I would imagine so,'' Naruto responded calmly. He eyed the two males behind him. They were all looking at him without even blinking. Well that was to be expected from the personal guards of the Mizukage. ''Respect like this is not given to one who has not earned it. I used to see something like this when the Sandaime Hokage was still alive. Despite his faults, he had done best to earn the respect and love Konoha gave him.''

''The Professor,'' Mei frowned slightly, only for a second though, but Naruto's sharp eyes noticed it. ''I have heard so much about him,'' she paused for a moment. ''Well, what about you?''

''I have done much for Konoha, more than any one in my generation, more than most people. But ''Uzumaki Naruto'' is just Naruto. Namikaze Naruto is the son of the Yondaime hence he deserves some credit. As Namikaze, I have not done much, but as Uzumaki...'' A pity the village did not acknowledge his sacrifice. He was a hero of Konoha, yet he was none of that to the villagers' eyes. Those people did not even see him as Naruto, the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki, but as Namikaze Naruto, the son of their precious Yondaime Hokage.

It was just really, and he felt somewhat bitter about it.

''Ah, living under your father's shadow,'' she did note that there was some hidden meaning between his words. She did not pry though. ''Uzumaki...?''

''You don't know?'' Naruto asked with a raised brow. ''Before I picked up my father's name I was using my mother's name. I would have thought that you might be aware of this little detail. It was no hidden secret.''

Mei ignored his words. It almost felt like a jab on her knowledge of him, lack of rather. He made it sound like she was not up to date with everything going around the world, like she was not informed. Luckily for her, Ao responded in her defense. ''Mizukage-sama has just being busy in seeing that the village recovers from the civil war to be worried about other things that are of little concern. But I know much about you...'' he did not state what he knew; he could leave that for Naruto's imagination.

''...Of little concern...'' Naruto sounded amused. ''You sound like I had just accused the Mizukage of being uninformed. But I would understand since Kiri is far away from other nations. Ironic, isn't it? The thing you find to be of little concern is the one that is trying to form a relationship between Kirigakure and Konoha.'' He was talking to Ao, despite not looking at the man as he spoke.

''I would n-'' Mei cut off Ao before he could finish his sentence.

''Shut up, Ao!'' The man nodded stiffly. The way Ao responded to Mei's voice seemed to amuse Naruto, but no one asked why he found it amusing.

**Mizukage office**

The breakfast had gone better than Naruto had expected. Despite things seeming to be going awry, Mei did not seem to mind, he could tell that she knew that he was not insinuating anything. Despite his expressionless face, he was not the one to be making fun of other people. He understood that not everyone could know everything, especially in Kiri. They had bigger problems to worry about. However, he would not agree with Ao's view of things. He knew about him and yet he did not tell the Mizukage anything. It was not that he wanted to be known.

But merely shrugging off people as of little concern without knowing them was not a smart thing to do. But then again, he had an idea that Ao had just said it because he had thought he had accused Mei of being uniformed.

The village was truly peaceful, you could never guess that only a few years ago it was hell. The civil war had claimed many lives within the village. There was also the Kaguya's rebellion. The clan had gotten too arrogant and thought they could take over the village. But they were dead wrong and ended up dead. If history was correct, everyone within the clan was killed. The civil war had done nothing good for the village. But it has now turned well. All thanks to their Mizukage.

She fought bravely for the village and rescued it from the blood purge. The ground had drunk too much blood, but now it was resting. The country was at rest from having to digest dead shinobi and civilians. Kiri was not so much different from other villages, but perhaps its peace came well other than Konoha's. Naruto shook his head at comparing Kiri with Konoha.

Konoha had many dark secrets. The village had been built well from its founding. Hashirama and Madara started it well, but after that, things just went in a bad way. Perhaps if the Sandaime had not been so naive and soft things would not have turned out so badly. Danzo had manipulated so many things behind the scenes. He held Konoha's darkness with great effect. The man had no shame in doing all that he did. He was proud of his dark job. The man's ideals were a bit twisted. Such men like Danzo were the ones that filled the world with darkness and gave birth to vile creatures.

The result of Danzo's actions had resulted in the birth of Pein. The actions of the village in the third Shinobi world war had not made the village look any less good. According to Konan, Nagato held deep hatred toward the village. Had he not died, fighting the man who called himself Madara, he would have some day go to haunt the village for its actions.

Mei looked at Naruto with a warm smile as the blond sat down on a chair across her desk. The blond was quite calm for a young man. It was rare to find such a calm young man. The youth of today did not have the right manners. But the blond had them all. He had a fault though. His impassive expression made him appear not so much friendly. But that was far from the truth. He was friendly despite his expression saying otherwise. She saw him smile wonderfully when they were talking. He truly had a beautiful smile. Another fault he had was that his blunt way of things made him appear to be rude.

However, he did seem like a good person. She was a good judge of character; her thought could not be wrong.

''I have to say, I am surprised that Konoha would be willing to try to sign a treaty with Kirigakure after the Sandaime refused to give me help during the civil war. I would have thought you would be ashamed to even make such a proposal,'' Mei stated in a neutral tone, not showing whether she was bitter about it or not.

''The sins of those before us,'' Naruto muttered mildly. ''The Sandaime had his reasons; I cannot explain what he thought about it. Neither can I say anything about the matter. What has happened, happened, nothing can be changed. But I am looking forward to a better future regardless of our history. Konoha might have refused to help in the time of need, but that was under the old leadership, the new leadership does things differently.''

''How different?''

''The past cannot be forgotten. If the Sandaime had offered you help, you would have ended the civil war quickly and with less causality. But instead you lost many of your men and drowned this village in a blood bath. But the new leadership in Konoha is trying to shape a better tomorrow for the coming generation. We admit that we do have many faults, but we have also paid much,'' he did not exactly answer the question that he was asked. But his way of responding offered more reason to Mei.

''You are trying to shape a better tomorrow? How are you trying to do that?'' she seemed genially curious to hear his answer. Naruto was not surprised by this though. He had known that the woman was very much peace loving, and would be certainly be interested in a chance for a better future.

Naruto smiled slightly. ''I have started this the wrong way,'' he said earning a raised an eye brow from the Mizukage. ''You will have to forgive me, Mizukage-sama.''

''What?''

''I am here representing two parties. Saying that Konoha is trying to move on and make amends for its past actions would be far from the truth,'' he paused to look at her reaction. He got nothing, and so he continued. ''On behalf of Konoha; I am looking forward to signing a treaty with Kiri and get the two villages to be on good terms rather than staying neutral.''

''...and on behalf of the other party?''

''I am looking to have you join me on a good cause. I will talk to you about that before discussing Konoha. However, before I can do that, I have to show you something,'' Naruto stated standing up.

''Show me what?''

''Something...You will have to come with me in order to see it, alone,'' Mei's ANBU were already on alert as soon as the last word left his mouse. It sounded suspicious to them even to Mei. But the woman was perfectly calm, and she sat silently looking straight into his face.

''Where do I have to go with you?''

''You will see it,'' Naruto responded as he placed his right hand on the desk. Mei noticed this movement, but said nothing. She waved off her ANBU.

''Okay.'' She said quietly. Naruto held out his right hand. The Mizukage took it and they disappeared in a Flash of Yellow.

The Village Hidden in Whirlpools.

They appeared on top off a large building in a foreign land to Mei. She looked around the place curiously. There was a large building they stood on that was about 15 storey high. Surrounding the large building where 9 other buildings. This other buildings were about 5 storey's high. But surrounding the standings buildings were ruins. Nothing seems to have been touched. It was just ruins. It was just like they had not been touched in many years. Mei had not seen such a place before. It was obvious that a great battle had befallen over this place to cause such ruins. It was also a bit of a surprise that these other 10 buildings had been build in the middle of the ruins. She could tell that they were only recently built.

''What is this place?'' Mei questioned with a curious expression. She did not let out of the fact that she was a bit relieved that she had not been taken some place that would require her to fight. That is if the blond had been planning something. But it appears that he was not planning anything. He just wanted to show her what he said he wanted to show her.

''This was once the home of the Great Uzumaki clan. The ruins are what is left of it after it was invaded. This is the result a peaceful nation got for being masters in the art of fuinjutsu. Three months ago I started rebuilding these standing buildings. The materials were already available, I just hired someone who could make all this buildings stand.''

''Why has no one even suspected that there was some activity going in here?'' Mei questioned, still looking around at the home of the Uzumaki. Naruto had said he once used Uzumaki name. She could guess that his mother was an Uzumaki woman. He may perhaps be a half Uzumaki. She doubted there would be anyone Uzumaki left though. The invaders of Uzu made sure to get rid of everyone.

''When people think of Uzu, they think of the ruins. Some people have even forgotten about the Uzumaki clan. No one suspects that something could happen inside here. There is also the fact that no ship has come around here, if did come, it would have been destroyed by the whirlpools. The whirlpools around this island make it impossible anyone to enter the village. And looking from upwards, you can only see the ruins,'' Naruto explained calmly. It had taken some great effort for him to get these buildings standing.

''How did you get the labor into the village if no one gets inside here?''

''Teleportation,'' Naruto replied simply. ''I teleported those who wanted to help me out here without attracting attention. There were quite a number of people in this island. It was only finished a few days ago, and everyone who was working here has gone back home. I believe that in the next few weeks, some people will know that there was rebuilding being done in here.''

''The men you hired will surely talk about it regardless of how much you pay them,'' Mei said with a nod. She knew the mind of men. They would sell any valuable information for a price. I did not matter to some even if they were betraying family.

''Unfortunately that will be so. But no one will be able to enter this island.''

''Why did you keep the ruins though?'' Mei asked curiously. She had reason to believe that the ruins were kept for a reason. No one would build such lovely buildings in the middle of ruins without some reason behind that choice.

''I kept them for a reminder to anyone who comes here. These ruins will stay like this until I remove the seals stopping them from falling apart.''

Mei nodded. She did not understand his reason fully, but she was not going to question much about it. It was not her place to do so. Obviously the ruins held some sentimental value to him. ''Why have you brought me here? Why have you rebuilt this place?''

''Would it be a surprise if I said built this because I wanted revenge for all those who took part in the destruction of my home? I may have been born in Konoha, but this is my ancestral home. And I said I wanted to show you this place so I could speak to you about the other organisation I represent,'' Naruto responded with the same tone he has been using.

Mei was surprised, ''I did not think you were the revenge type,'' she said looking straight at his eyes.

Naruto smiled. ''I was correct; you are a good judge of character. My choice to show you this was a good one after all. To be honest, you are the first person I have brought here since its completion.'' Technically that was the truth, but Itachi had come here alone.

''I am flattered; however you still have not answered my question.''

Naruto smiled before walking towards the edge of the building. ''Follow me,'' he said as he jumped downwards. Mei hesitantly followed him. They landed in front of the building. It was its entrance that they were facing. But that was not picked Mei's interest. On top of the large entrance was the Uzumaki swirl, in its crimson glory. Beneath the swirl were words Mei read out loud...

''United Nations''

**This concludes chapter 16 and 17 will begin where this one ended. Depending on how things turn out for me, I may post the next chapter quickly as I have done with this chapter. **

**I could not pick up a better name for the weapon, so I just decided to name him Juubi. But that is a name he prefers to be called for the moment. I don't want to make a mindless villain that just goes around killing people. His story line will develop, albeit slowly. **

**I will also have to develop story lines for both Danzo and Orochimaru as both will play some important roles in the story. Anything could change though.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It was unbelievable; she had never seen a library that huge. She did not think there was anything that huge that only contained books, scrolls and table scrolls. It was just unbelievable that something like that could exist. She had not known that there could be something that existed and she did not know about it. She was sure that no one knew about it. Her fellow kages would flip if word got out that something like that existed. Perhaps when the village was destroyed they had heard that something like it existed.

Yes, Uzumaki were known for being legendary when it came to fuinjutsu, they also had a shrewd way of doing things. There were not just a powerful nation, they were also cunning. Their growth and power prompted other nations to believe that the nation needed to be destroyed in fear of its power.

The largest tower in Uzu had the largest underground facility she had ever seen. The place was about 6 or 7 storey deep. She did not know how wide the place. Naruto had only given her a glimpse of the place. But she knew the place was huge. She had never seen such a place that big used for storing information. Yes, if it had been a prison, she would not have been surprised to see the place. Even Kiri's own archives were not that huge, despite the fact that the village had a very interesting history behind it. Who could have thought the underneath all those ruins, such a thing existed?

Mei looked at Naruto for a moment, she released a deep sigh. ''You said I was the second person to see that place. Who is the other person?'' Her tone was dead serious as she questioned. Something like that in the wrong hands could spell trouble. It could be certainly used to disastrous things.

''Someone I trust,'' Naruto responded with a small smile. He had taken the Mizukage back to her tower after showing the United Nations buildings and archive. That also included the ridiculously volt of a library. The woman only caught glimpse of it, he did not show her anything within scrolls and books. He left that for her imagination to work.

''You know, if anyone from Iwa or Kumo hears about this, they will no doubt invade Uzushiogakure again, and this time, the island might be sunken down into the bottom of the sea,'' Mei said in thought, but her serious tone was still kept.

''I know of that. But I am not one without allies, and even if anyone invades Uzu again, they can't enter the library without my permission. That place is seal proved by the best of seals that even I can't completely understand. The underground facility has many years, and it has been like that since. Even with the invasion, it remained standing,'' Naruto paused for moment. ''Before that, one has to get into the island, which is not an easy thing.''

''The whirlpools that surround the island,'' Mei said, again looking in thought. ''The village was still invaded with those things active. I do know that they do make it difficult to enter the island. Those whirlpools wreck ships. This makes it difficult to ship an army inside the island.''

''All measures and security threats have been looked into. It is not something that I am bothering myself with,'' Naruto said looking to move onto another subject. He had already calculated everything. And as long as his library stayed a secret, for now, he would not be worried about anything. He had to worry about getting things on board and running.

Mei nodded. ''United Nations... You did not explain anything.''

''I want to live in a peaceful world; I want to have a family that will not grow up to this cruel world we live in. This world is not what I want. I reject its ideals and principles. I want to live in a world of peace - where villages are not fighting to kill each other, a united world where we all fight together to defeat evil. The United Nations is a step towards that mark. It may sound naive, but I know I can at least make the world better.'' he did not color anything. He placed it on the table as it was. It was of little use to try to beautify things and make it all dramatic. Of course he could have even gone further and given examples of just how cruel the world was. But Mei already knew that.

The Godaime Mizukage looked at the blond for a minute, unblinking, trying to see if he was joking or not. His tone did not say he was joking, but with a shinobi, you could never be too sure. After she had confirmed that he was not joking, Mei spoke. ''That is some dream you have,'' she said.. She did not sound interested in it, not by any chance.

Naruto knew what she was trying to do. ''I have allies in the Wave country, Amegakure, Takigakure, and Kusagakure. Sunagakure will soon be an ally, I am acquainted with the Kazekage well enough to know that If it was him I was speaking to him, he would be enquiring about the way forward. You cannot forget that I am also a shinobi of Konoha, more to that, an ambassador, and proposed future Hokage of the village. I also have all the resources I need in Uzu.''

''So not even Konoha knows about this,'' Mei said looking straight at the blond. ''You even say that you are friends with the Kazekage, yet you have yet to say a word to him. Why come to me before speaking to those?''

Naruto merely smiled. ''Gaara is a friend I can always trust. Even without speaking to him about this, I know he will work with me because he knows me. Konoha will need a bit more of persuading to get on board. But the Godaime Hokage sees a grandson in me; I am also the Godson of Jiraiya. Because those two know me, they will be my friends in this course.'' he paused for a moment. ''I came to you because I chose to do that. You are a Kage and have experienced the cruelty of the world. Unlike both Gaara and I, you are older and wise. You also offer a different perspective of view and could inject something that both of us cannot to the United Nations.''

Again Mei was quite. ''I do wish for peace, but your plan seems ambitious.'' She leaned back to her chair and silenced for a few moments. ''What do you want from me?''

''Every organisation needs a committee that will lead it. There ought to be a managerial structure within the organisation to delegate different departments and objectives of the organisation. I am the president of the UN while I hope to have Gaara become the Vice. This organisation has to have its executive board compromised of different representative of members of the villages within the organisation. I want you to be the chair of that executive board,'' Naruto said, shocking the Mizukage.

With what she has seen of Uzu, she knew he was not joking and was very serious. The United Nations was a real thing. He had set up everything. The offer though was unexpected. She had not thought that he would offer her something like that. To say that she was surprised was an understatement. ''I will have to think about this,'' she said.

Naruto took out two scrolls and handed them to the Mizukage. ''Don't open them now. You can open them after we have finished talking. The second scroll contains the objectives of the UN in detail and all the paperwork you have to sign.''

''What do I have to sign? I have not yet said I will join you.''

''I think you will. You have nothing to lose. Allying with the UN only strengthens your village. Read those files and you will find out how much it benefits the people of Kiri should everything work out as planned,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''Should we talk about Konoha and Kiri, now?''

Mei rubbed her head. ''It would be good if we take a break. But let us talk this through,'' she said. ''Why should Kiri ally with Konoha?''

Naruto merely smiled as he began talking.

**Three hours later**

Mei sighed tiredly as Naruto disappeared from her office. She really needed to get some rest. It had yet to reach noon, but her mind was tired. What she had been doing with the blond had drained her energy. She had never thought that her talks with him would be so demanding to her mental energy. She had expected to have normal treaty talks, but she did not get any of that. Naruto did not talk normal. He was an ambitious dreamer, and had the confidence that made her want to believe him. He was so calm when he spoke. He really seemed like someone who knew what he was talking about. The blond spoke much and was pretty good dealings things like this.

She now could understand why Konoha allowed him to talk in the stead of the Hokage. Normally talks like this were done with the Hokage but Konoha had sent him. He was not a disappointment. He really seemed like he had been born for this kind of job.

The blond was a fine gentleman too. He was a bit rude though. But she had discovered that he was a good person. Too bad he was a little younger. Perhaps if she gave him a few years, he would grow up to become a fine husband. Yes, he definitely would.

A treaty with Konoha would be signed soon. Naruto just wanted Konoha to agree to everything as it seems that some of the things he had stipulated in the treaty had not been made known to Konoha. She doubted that the village would accept such things. But then again things were different from back then. Back then, the village had refused to aid her in the civil war. What a bummer that had been. She had thought that the village would help her given that they preached peace and that. She had never thought they would leave her on the cold like that. But the Sandaime had done it. He had refused to help. Things had come to this point now.

She was certainly looking forward to this treaty with Konoha. It would do her well, Kiri to be precise. An alliance with Konoha was something that she would not refuse, especially when the village was not making any outrageous demands. Stronger villages had a tendency to do things like that. They always tried to make ridiculous demands when having treaty negotiations with villages weaker than them. Some villages would cave in fear of being destroyed. She was not worried about the lead threatening her village should she have refused the treaty negotiations. Despite its history, the village was not known to those extreme measures to achieve something.

The treaty she had negotiated with Naruto was benefitting both villages. Her council will surely be thrilled when she does tell them about it. She was grateful that Naruto had been the one to talk with. She had a feeling that if it had been someone else, things might have turned out differently. Naruto knew how to handle things well and did not seem to have any hidden agendas. Of course, he had told her that some of the things they agreed on may be cut depending on how the council of Konoha viewed things. But he had said he would put his foot down to ensure that everything went well. She had no doubt he would do that.

UN huh? Mei thought with a small smile. Naruto had seemed very confident that she would agree to join him. She did not know where he got the confidence from. If anything, she had thought of joining. It did not do her any harm in joining a cause for peace and a united world. After speaking with the blond about Konoha and Kiri treaty, she was confident that the blond would persuade other leaders to join him. She liked that he did not carry an aura of arrogance and overconfidence around him. He was smart and rational.

She wished for a world of peace. Her people looked up to her to bring them peace and make their lives easy without facing much pain and sufferings. She knew she could not take all that away from everyone, but she could try to make things better. The UN could change things. It was the right direction for her. She took out one of the scroll Naruto had given and opened it. By the markings, she realized it was a storage scroll. She channeled chakra onto it and in a puff of smoke, a large file appeared.

It was addressed to her. She opened it and took out a stack of papers that were clipped together. She looked at it and read it. She smiled after she had finished reading it. Naruto was indeed smart. And he seemed to have thought everything through. The laws of the UN were, something else, for the lack of a better word. But she could see that it benefited her and Kiri greatly. The treaty with Konoha would be like a bonus if she joined the organisation.

''At this rate, I may end up joining,'' Mei muttered to herself as she went over to the next scroll. She would see through the rest of the documents Naruto had given her later on after she had settled her thoughts and some rest.

The scroll was like the previous one, and she repeated the same process she did in the first one. In puffs of smoke, swords that she thought she would never see again appeared. She looked on of the swords and found a note.

''As president of the UN I thought it would be well to hand this over to you. They will be of use if you ever thought of restarting the next generation swordsman. A bit hypocritical that I spoke of peace yet I supply you with weapons of destruction, huh? Anyway, I believe that power ought to be used for fighting against evil, against those who have lost their humanity. Whether we like it or not, there will always be someone with evil intensions, but those with good intensions will always step up to fight the good fight.

Use them well to fight the good fight.

Namikaze Naruto''

**2 hours later (Sunagakure)**

''Temari, you are going to the event, and that is final,'' Gaara stated firmly looking straight at his older sister. She older woman was staring at her brother with a hard glare. But she should know that nothing like that would work on her brother. He was the master of things like that. In fact, if was not because of her anger, she would have been flinching under his stare. .

''I don't want to go Gaara. I am supposed to be in Konoha to finalize the new arrangements in our alliance with them. Naruto and I have to get some things to complete before Konoha starts the new projects. You know that we have to discuss the things because we will be taking part in some of them,'' Temari argued with a steel tone. She was not going to back down without a fight. Even if it meant she had to fight her brother.

''Naruto is going to be there, and as far as I am concerned, he is the one in charge of all the projects. Without him, the Godaime will not discuss anything because the projects are planned by Naruto. He has all the details, didn't you tell me that?''

Temari gritted her teeth. She had not expected him to say that. She had no other way to argue with the point her brother had made. ''Brother, can't you just take Kankuro and Baki with you?'' her tone had come down to a resigned tone as she questioned.

Gaara shook his head. ''Kankuro is not suited for formal events such as this. He might screw things up, and you know how important this is for us. I do not want anyone to mess this up for us. The Daimyo has invited top officials within the Wind country and some in the Fire country. This will be good for the village. I cannot go with Baki because he has to look after things while I am away. I do not doubt you abilities, but you do not have the same image and authority as Baki.''

''Is there anyone else going to be there from Konoha?'' Temari questioned curiously. She understood how important this was to Sunagakure. She just did not want to do it because she hated how the top officials in the village acted. They were very much controlling and she was not willing to be controlled by anyone.

''I was only informed that Naruto would be going. He is not going to be taking part in anything, he will just be there as a date to the Daimyo. But since he is a representative of the village I think he will also represent it,'' Gaara responded losing his hard stare. His look remained impassive though. It was nothing new to Temari though. The Kage always had this look. It was almost his ''happy'' look.

Temari relented, ''Fine. I will go, but I won't be playing maid to anyone.''

''You know I would never expect you to play that. I would rather lose all potential alliances and treaties than to have you become a slave,'' the younger of the sand siblings responded with a cool look on his face.

''I know,'' Temari replied quietly. Gaara was her brother, and despite how emotionless he often appeared, he would never do anything to harm her. He always protected her, no matter what. Even when at times he took it to the extreme, she liked knowing that he cared for her. It was very different from back in those days where he used to threaten both her and Kankuro. But today, she was sure he would kill anyone who threatened her. She would even go as far as to pity anyone who does her any harm knowing that the Kazekage would do horrible to that person.

''But I do request that you keep your anger bottled up because I do not wish to pay for any damages you might be responsible for,'' Gaara stated in a serious tone - A tone that Temari knew too well. Even though he had said it to be a request, it was no request. He was simply telling her to behave, and certainly won't be happy if things turn out in a way he was not expecting.

Before Temari could respond, Naruto appeared in the office. ''I do hope I am not intervening on a family meeting,'' the blond stated looking between Temari and Gaara.

Gaara shook his head slightly. ''Temari and I were just finishing up,'' he paused for a moment. ''By your look, you seem to be looking for me, rather than my sister who you have been dealing with over the past weeks,'' the Sand Kazekage stated.

Naruto nodded as he remained standing. ''Hello Temari, as always, it is lovely to see you again,'' the blond stated so that the woman could not leave without a greeting. It would be somewhat rude for him to waltz into the office without extending his greetings to her, especially when he worked with her.

The woman smiled at him before walking out of the office to allow the boys to have their talks. ''What brings you here?''

''You remember that I said I wanted to show you something?'' Naruto said looking straight at the Kazekage. Gaara nodded in response. ''Today is the day,'' the blond revealed, looking impassive as always.

''Well, show me,'' Gaara said looking straight at his fellow Jinchuriki. With Naruto, he did not have to be suspicious of anything. Naruto was Naruto. If there was something, he could sense it. He knew the other Jinchuriki quite well; hence he did not have to feel wary with whatever Naruto wanted to show him. He was curious to say the least. The blond had made it sound very important when he had told him about it.

''We will have to take a few minutes away from the village,'' Naruto warned, walking closer to the Kazekage. Once he got close to Gaara, he placed his right hand on the Kage's shoulder before they disappeared. He did notice, however, that Gaara did not even flinch nor tense when they teleported away. It pleased him knowing how much Gaara trusted him. He too of course trusted the Kage. He believed that this trust would surely bear much fruit. He hoped to never lose it.

**A few minutes later**

They had returned after he had showed Gaara Uzushiogakure, no, the new village hidden in Whirlpools. It was new and it also represented something else new. Uzumaki relied much on Konoha for protection in the old days. Despite the village being a shinobi village, they relied much on Konoha to protect them. There was also the fact that they refrained from fighting, despite being a strong nation. New Uzu was something else different. The new village was going to change the world.

''Well, that was certainly surprising,'' Gaara stated looking straight at Naruto, yet no surprise was evident on his face. Since they had returned, they settled down for some silence. Naruto had refrained from speaking to allow Gaara to process everything he had seen. He had merely decided to show him instead of talking.

''But you have handled it well. The Mizukage showed much surprise - it took some time for her to get over her shock after everything I had shown her,'' Naruto stated, not hiding that he had shown Mei Uzu before he had shown Gaara. Secrets would not do well if he wanted everything to be a success. And besides, it was nothing much to hide.

Gaara merely raised a brow at this, but did not show much surprise, nonetheless. ''You are coming from Kiri,'' he said. With how the blond had been busy, he could only guess that he had shown Mei new Uzu recently. It was not a difficult thing for Naruto to move about nations without much time since he could teleport to anywhere he wants. How useful the space/time jutsu was...

''Yes, I showed the Mizukage everything I showed you and gave her an offer.'' An offer he had no doubt she was going to accept. It was just a matter of time, the next time he would see the woman, and she would be telling him that she has accepted.

''What is the UN?''

''It is an organisation which seeks to find peace and maintain it. The core goal of the UN is to make a peaceful world where villagers will have good relations with others, a world where people can understand each other, a world where people are free to walk about without much fear. Humans are flawed creatures; we cannot blame chakra to be the source of evil. Without chakra men has swords and knives. Even if you take away all the weapons, man will find a way to create another one.

But the UN...no, I want to create a peaceful world; a world that weapons will not be used to harm innocents, but to deal with evil. I want a world where we will all fight against, not against each other, but against those who have lost their humanity. As long as there is the strong and weak, there will always be conflicts. But I hope to balance everything. Bijuus had been given to other villages by the Shodai Hokage as means to balance power, but that was a complete failure.

You cannot give a greedy man more power and hope he will not use it for his greed. What the world needs is not more power, but a law, the UN. It is needed to maintain, mediate between villages, smaller and the greater ones. Under the UN, I hope to ensure that all villages who will be members strive for one goal. Shinobi under a single village leave peacefully without much conflict because they are home, and consider themselves comrades. They live happily with each other under the protection of their leader.

I hope to have the UN, which will be led by a council. The council will be made by different leaders of each village. This will ensure that everyone has a say. I have compiled a few laws and principles, but the rest will be made in agreement with all members. An idea as this will make all leaders feel involved in the process and a true part of the organisation. This council will ensure that every conflict within villages are solved without the need for battle.'' Naruto paused for a moment to allow Gaara to absorb everything he had said. He did not want him to lose some details.

After a few moments, he continued. ''When I say law, I mean that all those under the UN, all members must adhere to certain laws. If not, there will be severe punishment. There are bans and restrictions that can be sanctioned against anyone who breaks the laws.

Such an organisation will need funds to run, and much information. We will need to have the best spy network in the world to ensure that we are informed about everything. Funds will be contributed by each member. The UN will need to have its own military force. I already have set up something. I have funds to begin everything, but more will be added once everything has been stabilized. Within the UN, members work together to improve the living of each member. Kages strive to help each other.

I have already found a few members, but I will be able to get more members soon. I offered the Mizukage a position of supreme chairwoman to the executive council. I am the president, I fall just above her, but in many cases, she has the same power as I do. I wanted you to be my vice, as well as commander of the UN's army. They will be stationed all over the world and will act as a police force. But the HQ will be in Uzu. This means that you will work with ANBU of different villages. But no one will interfere with the UN's work. There are more positions that need to be filled. They will be so when I host the first conference in at least two months.''

Gaara was silent for a few moments. ''You did not build the UN in Konoha to avoid other villages saying that it is under Konoha. If it was so, it would be thought that Konoha is trying to control the other nations.''

Naruto nodded. ''Indeed, Konoha is already the strongest, and to avoid a blunder where the village will have power over the UN I built everything elsewhere and did not center it on Konoha. I have yet to inform them of this. But I will do so after I leave here. I do not wish for the UN to be under any village - that is why I want each Kage to hold a position of power within the organisation.''

''You have thought this through and prepared everything, I am impressed. You also understand the nature of men. Your goal is ambitious, but it is very much possible. I believe it will work. As such, you have my support, as well as Suna's.'' Gaara stated in a firm tone.

Naruto smiled. ''The trust you have in me, I hope that it is not wasted. No one has tried this, but we shall. There will be many challenges ahead; I hope to have you as a partner. I wish for our friendship to grow stronger than this even after we have made this dream a reality,'' he paused for a moment, and gave Gaara a small scroll. ''It is a storage scroll; it contains your contract and much information about the UN.''

Gaara took the scroll, silently. ''Do you think that Konoha will agree to this?''

''All I need to do is convince the clan heads and Tsunade. It will be a little difficult, but I will manage,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''With Kiri, Suna and Konoha under the same roof, the smaller villages will surely follow,'' Gaara stated.

Naruto nodded. ''I believe so. I also plan to unite all Jinchurikis. I have so far gotten in touch with other two. I talked well with the Seven-tails Jinchuriki and she is on board,'' he paused for a moment. ''Tsunade talked to me about your problem. As a friend, I will help you remove the problem. The Uzumaki have a large vault of cash. I am currently able to make a small withdrawal, but I should have all funds available to me soon. But in the mean time, I am collecting some funds elsewhere.''

''Thank you,'' was a response from Gaara.

Naruto merely smiled. ''It is what friends are for.'' he stood up. ''I will return to collect your contract and with more details as to how we will proceed.'' Gaara nodded, and Naruto disappeared. He needed to rest first before his talks with Konoha. It was bound to be hard, and he would be forced to speak whatever that is necessary.

''Things are certainly going to be interesting from now on,'' Gaara said to himself as he opened the scroll.

**Konoha**

The council of Konohagakure had gathered within the council chambers. Naruto was not intimidated the atmosphere within the chambers. It was not his first time coming here. He had held meetings within the chambers before. But in most cases, he was usually quiet and spoke when questioned. He kept himself at a respectable level even when someone spoke trash. But today was very much different from the previous meetings he had been part of. This one was also called by him. Given his post and duties, he could speak to the Hokage and call a meeting. So much has indeed happened over the pas days.

Today was surely a hard day for him. Speaking and travelling was putting so much strain on his mind. It was tiring to be speaking as well as trying to convince people to buy what you were selling. He did not need to convince Gaara but he had to dig well with the Mizukage. That woman questioned a lot and went to detail over everything. When they were discussing about a treaty with the village, she had been thorough about everything. It was tiring. But he had gone through it all without a hitch.

After returning from Sunagakure, he had taken some time to speak with Tsunade. He had to speak with her first before making his proposal. It would not dwell with both of them if he had gone to the council to make a proposal without speaking to her first. She was the leader of the village, she had to know first. There was also the fact about their personal relationship. She would need to know about everything he was doing before the others. Speaking with her had drained much of his energy, especially when the woman proved to be much more demanding than she had been. She had demanded he spilled everything and even went as far as to threaten him.

In the end, he took her to Uzu to show her what he had shown the others. It was not that he had not planned to show her what he had built. The matter was that once he started speaking, Tsunade took charge and the format of their conversation became like an interrogation. Instead of him explaining everything to her plainly without her stern gaze, he was forced to answer her questions. At least she had calmed down a bit after some time and he was able to fill all the blanks he had left since he wanted her to know everything. At least she welcomed the thought well.

After everything, she agreed to call the meeting. He wanted to do everything within this day so that he could work on his options. There was also the fact that he would have to leave soon to the capital of the Wind country. The event Miyuki would be hosting was to be held soon. His presence was requested. Since he has never been to the capital before, he would have to travel without the use of his Hiraishin. But he had not complains though. The journey would be welcomed.

''Why have we been called here, Tsunade? It better be something agent,'' elder Koharu stated, looking straight at the Godaime. Her words only earned her a glare from the blonde Hokage. The older woman said nothing in response to the glare by the Hokage.

''You are one of my advisors and you will be available when I call you. You should not make any complains. And be thankful that I am even allowing you to sit here in this chamber. You are just my advisor, thus no real power. But the clan heads have some power,'' Tsunade retorted with a glare. She was not going to have to deal with grumpy old people. It annoyed her when they dried to boss her around.

Koharu said nothing. It was best not to say anything. But Danzo narrowed his eyes at the Godaime. 'She is becoming too comfortable to say something like that,' he thought silently. If things continued like this, she would soon force them out of the council. He would never allow something like that to happen though, but the woman would push for it. It would be outrageous and unthinkable if she made such a notion possible.

''Shall we get on to what we have been called here for then?'' Danzo said, ever so impassive and calm. He earned nods from the others.

''As you all know, Naruto had gone to Kirigakure to hold talks about a treaty yesterday. He returned earlier with fruitful results. But we will get on to that some other time. What you have been brought here is for a proposal that Naruto wishes to outline,'' Tsunade said in a serious tone before she nodded at her fellow blond.

But before Naruto could speak, someone spoke. ''What is it that you have to propose that we had to be called here?''

''The Hokage had nodded to me, giving me the opportunity to speak. If you had allowed me to speak after her, you would not have given a question like that,'' he said so coolly, that if Danzo had trained him, he would have been a proud teacher. ''But anyway. I understand that I am bound to Konoha as its shinobi, and fall under the command of the Hokage,'' he paused for a moment, but before he could continue, someone spoke again.

''You also carry our weapon. We can say that you belong to us, as long as the Kyuubi stays inside of you,'' Koharu stated. She just wanted to remind the boy that he belonged to Konoha, and nowhere else. She did not want him to become too comfortable with the privileges he had been given to think that he owned himself.

''Forgive me, Hokage-sama. It seems that I may speak ''out of line'' today,'' Tsunade merely shrugged but gave him a look that told him to watch what he says. ''Elder Koharu, you are misunderstanding something; I do not belong to you. I am a shinobi of Konoha, and will continue to be so to protect this village. But I do not belong to you, neither does the Kyuubi. You people have gotten the idea that you own Bijuus because you have forced them to becoming your slaves.

I cannot teach people old as you what a Bijuu is; it is not only the old, but everyone, except Jinchurikis who live with Bijuus know what they are. I am different from you, so is any Jinchuriki. You have never stood face to face with a Bijuu, nor spoken to it. But because of their power, Bijuus have been treated as nothing but mindless beast that needed to be controlled. You have made them your weapons. You have drawn conclusions that they are evil, mindless and need to be used by you.

You stamp your names in every Bijuu; seek to use the Bijuus power for your own goals. When they fight to protect themselves, you say they are dangerous and need to be contained. You then lock them for years, robbing them their freedom. How do you think they will act once they are freed from their shackles? No wonder Bijuus loath humanity.''

While he spoke, the Kyuubi merely listened with half opened eyes.

''Are you trying to say that a Bijuu has its own mind? Are you trying to defend it against what it did to the village many years ago? Wasn't it your parents who were killed fighting it?''

Naruto merely took an amused expression on his face.

''If there is something funny, you can tell us.'' Tsume questioned with a narrowed look.

Naruto shook his head. ''I apologize. It is just that years ago when the Kyuubi attacked the village, it just appeared. Bijuus don't do that. Everybody knows this. Had it never occurred to anyone that someone might have summoned it here? Added to that, was it not this very village that raised the issue that the Kyuubi was being manipulated by the Sharingan?''

''It was just a thought,'' Danzo responded. ''But I do have reason to believe that it was indeed being manipulated by a Sharingan. However, that changes nothing.''

''My thoughts exactly,'' Naruto said, surprising Danzo. But his next words were unexpected. ''Because it is a Bijuu, we were quick to judge. If it had been a person like us, we would have tried to get all the facts before passing on judgment. We are quick to hate and condemn what we don't understand...well that is a flaw of human nature.''

''Naruto,'' Shikaku said calmly. ''Are you saying that before we passed down judgment to the Kyuubi, we should have spoken to it to find out what really happened?''

''Perhaps,'' But they would not have gotten an answer from the Bijuu. It would have destroyed them before they could. The Kyuubi would have never listened to anything especially after it had been sealed for many years inside his mother. Nothing would have pleased the Bijuu than destroying this village for what it did.

Naturally, he was not going to say it aloud.

''And then we should forget what it do to our families?'' the person was surely not happy.

''You are jumping to your own conclusions. I never said anything like that. I was merely pointing a flaw to human nature,'' Naruto rebuffed smoothly with a small shrug of his shoulders.

''You made it sound like Bijuus have some intelligence them. It is known that Jinchurikis can speak to their Bijuus, then you are a good judge to this; does the Kyuubi show some sort of intelligence?'' the mildly curious question was from the head of the Hyuuga clan.

Naruto merely smiled. The man was impassive about the whole thing. ''I have had a few conversations with the Kyuubi. What I can say is that, it is not stupid. Far from it, age is wisdom, isn't that the saying of old people?''

''In other words; because the Kyuubi has been alive for generations, it has much wisdom and probably knows much about this world than we do,'' Shikaku said rubbing his head. This was all troubling.

''This ought to be a subject of another day. I have yet to give you my proposal,'' Naruto said changing subject. He had gone off-track because of what Koharu had said.

''Get on with it then,'' Tsume stated in impatience.

''While some people chose to ignore everything else, and be happy with what they have, I chose to broaden my thinking. My generation does not know war, we live in this word happily without knowing whose blood was spilled for this ''peace'' we have. They care about having fun and achieving small dreams. But everyone knows that outside the wall of this village lay vultures of all kinds. No, even inside these walls, some exist.

I have seen what the world is, the darkness that so many embrace. I have seen what people do for the sake of getting a mission done. I have seen the cruelty of men. And I want to change all that. When I start my own family, I don't want my children to see what I have seen.

Because of this, I am fighting for peace. I have started an organisation called the United Nations. It is an organisation that seeks to unite the world under one umbrella. I hope to gather leaders of villages, and have them work together to making this world a better place''

''Naive child,'' Danzo spoke. ''I had thought you had grown, but it appears I was wrong.''

It was nothing unexpected from Danzo, Naruto thought. "I am far from that, Danzo. You should know that I have experienced some things that made me think twice about staying inside this village. For years I waited, thinking that this village would accept me as I was. But even today, there are still those who glare at me, those who see the Kyuubi in me. Nevertheless, there are those who have changed. This little change is what gives me hope for a better future.

If I had not grown, I would be seeking revenge against those who have treated me unfairly. I would have all the reasons to take revenge, and all the words to justify it. No doubt the Kyuubi would be more than willing to take part in a fools' parade.

Even when I am still here, I have little hope that these people will one day start calling me a hero. It will only happen if I save them from mass destruction. Would you call a person who thinks like that a naïve child?"

"You may be here just to honor your father's death, and your mother's. Your words also make me question your loyalty to this village. But that is of little consequence, there is no way that this way will be united," that is unless he gained supreme power and controlled every nation.

"That is a matter of your own opinion, isn't Danzo-san? The fact that you also have the guts to question my loyalty towards this village gives me a better view of your mentality," Naruto paused for a moment before he went on. "Just to be clear; the fact that my father died for this village means nothing to me. I have decided to stay in this village because I chose to."

Danzo narrowed his eyes. "It may be my opinion, but that is the truth. Look at how Sunagakure was willing to turn on us for the sake of power…"

"Sunagakure was tricked by your former comrade Orochimaru. The fact that Orochimaru killed the Kazekage means that he had refused to betray us, doesn't it? That said, I don't see your point. Perhaps you are viewing it another angle than I am. If so, could you enlighten me," Naruto knew that there was nothing that Danzo could say about that. He was even tempted to throw another punch by saying that if it was Danzo who was leader of Suna; he would have worked with Orochimaru.

Everyone knew the kind of man Danzo was, so no one would disagree to it.

Shikaku spoke before things between Naruto and Danzo could escalate further. ''If you do manage to unite the leaders, what makes you think they won't turn on each other? We have alliances with other villages and peace treaties, but those are nothing. Villagers can overlook them and betray their allies.''

''Say for example, Konoha, Iwa and Kiri are all under the UN. When these villages become members, there is a code of conduct that they must follow and rules that they must abide in. All these villagers are allies, and have signed agreements. Agreements signed by both Kage and Daimyo. Should Iwa chose to attack Konoha, there will be severe consequences, and it will be held accountable for all the damages.

Members of the UN all have to accept rules of being members. If Iwa does attack, the UN will take action, based on the rules of the organisation. The action by the UN would be to have all members impose a ban on Iwa. The village will no longer receive missions from anyone. The UN will ensure that missions from outside do no reach the village. The Daimyo of the Earth will also be forced to cut off his funding. Shinobi of Iwa will also be barred from stepping into the territory of any member of the UN. We will also force the village to pay for construction damages.

Depending on the damage and reasons for the act of betrayal, Iwa may be forced to cut its military power. Members of the UN will enforce of this. With other members backing everything, Iwa will have no choice.''

Everyone was left speechless, even Danzo. Those kinds of sanctions were ridiculous. If any of those sanctions were imposed on any village, it would suffer very badly. The image would be in tatters and with the lack of missions as well as funding from the Daimyo; the village's economy will hit a low. The village will become poor and villagers would surely flee to somewhere they can live happily. Even Danzo had to admit it, the fact that there would be other villages involved, meant that there was no escaping punishment. No one could risk those sanctions.

''In your scenario, if Sunagakure, which is not a member of the UN attacks Konoha, can the same sanctions be imposed on it?'' Chouza questioned curiously.

''Look at this, members of the UN fight together. If Konoha is attacked, Kiri and Iwa are obligated to send support without question. This will mean that Suna will be against three villages, would they really provoke a fight knowing they are outnumbered?'' he paused for a moment. ''But if they are foolish to fight a lost cause, the UN will take action. None of the members of the UN, countries in this regard, will not allow Suna shinobi into their borders, nor will they send missions.''

''You have thought this through'' Shikaku said, giving Naruto a small smile. ''With the kind of sanctions that can be imposed on those who do not respect their alliances, no one would dare to attack an ally, if so, we will be looking at starvation.''

Others nodded. ''And the fact that when you seek war with a member of this organisation, you have the rest of the members to look out for makes things difficult. Attacking means, looking for death.''

''You are certainly not considering this, are you?'' Homura questioned looking surprised that the clan heads seemed to be accepting Naruto's words so easily. Well, given everything the blond had said, it was difficult to say he was naive.

''My proposal is for Konoha to become a member of the UN. Sunagakure, Amegakure, Kirigakure, the Wave country, Takigakure are already members as well as other small villages.''

''What? When did this happen?''

''Since I returned from my ''training trip''. I have been busy. I have shown the Hokage UN HQ, which were built in Uzushiogakure. I may be a shinobi of Konoha, but to balance everything, I ensured that this organisation is not based in Konoha, and Konoha has no authority over it,'' Naruto explained lightly.

''How can that be? You are a shinobi of Konoha. If you are the one who founded this organisation, it means that it is also under our authority.'' Koharu stated, almost smirking.

''By that logic, my house is also under your authority.'' Naruto responded so blankly.

''It is creditable that you have managed to get this other villages to join you,'' Danzo said. It sounded a bit sarcastic though. But Naruto was not sure the man knew sarcasm. ''But, how will this benefit Konoha? We do not need other villages to protect us.''

''For Konoha, it is not much about benefitting, but rather, it is about trying to forge a better tomorrow. The village has nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Unless you are not looking for a peaceful world and love war, and wish for more of our shinobi to die in meaningless battles, you can say that Konoha does not need to be a member of the UN.''

The last words were said with a purpose. There was a meaning underneath them; Danzo was quick to understand that. ''With such an organisation, I believe that villagers will have to share some of the things they excel in. That will be unacceptable. What we excel in makes us hold the edge over the other villages, and I refuse to share anything that will make other villages strong.''

''You have a problem. You have been caught up in war too much that you no longer see an ally. You are always thinking about winning and making sure that Konoha rules. Such a mentality is what brings conflicts in this world. I doubt you even trust anyone in this table, then should we listen to the words of a man who cannot trust anyone but himself?''

Danzo responded by narrowing his eyes towards Naruto. That was unexpected. He did not expect the blond to give a question like that. Perhaps he had been right at the beginning, the blond had grown. He was proving to be a nuisance than anything. Well, he could use this little party to further his goals. It seemed that Tsunade was agreeing with this, so were the clan heads. With other villages close, he could keep an eye on them closely. And it would be easy to extend his control with an existing party.

**A few days later (Wind capital)**

The event had yet to start, and Naruto had decided to see the Daimyo first. When he was coming to this capital, he had come across Gaara and his sister. He joined them along the way as they ventured the lands of the wind country towards the capital. Their journey was not that long; perhaps it was because of the company. When one was with other people, conversing, time seemed to flow fast. The Sand siblings were good people, so conversations with them were always fruitful and not so much boring.

After reaching the capital, Naruto had parted ways with the siblings to go find the daimyo. The event would start tomorrow morning, they would have to get some rest before the event. It also appeared that the Daimyo had been expecting him since when he asked, a guard appeared and led him to the personal residence of the Daimyo. He had no problems with it though.

''For someone who says she did not know much of the vultures crawling out there, you awfully have a lot of guards around this place,'' Naruto said, leaning against the door frame of Miyuki's study.

''With the event that is going to be hosted, I am obligated to increase internal security. If you are a host, you would not want any of your guests to get hurt in your watch, would you?'' Miyuki stated, standing up from behind her desk, and walked up towards Naruto.

''No, it would not bode well, and it certainly won't do any favors if it becomes apparent that the Wind Daimyo is not capable of protecting her guests in her own backyard,'' Naruto responded, watching the woman with careful eyes.

''It certainly would not,'' Miyuki smiled at him. ''I am glad you could make it.'' She said extending her hand towards him. Naruto smiled and shook her hand.

''I had to be here, especially when the Daimyo had requested that I be her ''escort''. I doubt anyone would refuse that privilege.''

''Flattering,'' Miyuki did not stop smiling. ''Please sit down.'' Naruto nodded and took a seat in front of her desk. ''Rumors say you have been quite bust over the past weeks. My informants tell me you have been spotted in a number of villages.''

''Ah, you are quite informed. Well, that is to be expected from a Daimyo, despite age and experience. And yes, I have been quite busy over the past weeks. But it is merely talking though, not the usual business of shinobi,'' Naruto responded in a calm tone. He was okay with staying away from battles, as long as he was busy with fruitful work. Getting more work done was an important matter for him than anything.

''Ah, that must be a waste to the skills of Namikaze Naruto,'' the Daimyo stated as if she knew much about Naruto's power. But the truth was that she did not know much. But she had a feeling that he was skilled. If he had made jonin, he had to be skilled. Nevertheless, much about his skills is kept a secret.

Naruto merely smiled. ''I have no complains if what I am doing is better than fighting. My work is beneficial for better relations with Konoha's allies, while fighting is nothing more than having to sweat in more bloodshed. But it is not always that a fight will result in death.''

''You don't enjoy testing your skills like other shinobi?'' It was apparent to her that many shinobi liked locking horns in battle. They seemed to be thrilled when fighting. Well, they were trained professional killers. But she liked to believe that they were more than that.

''I have no problems with a friendly spar. In fact, I do enjoy testing my skills with another shinobi. But I only fight with enemy when I am forced.'' Naruto explained lightly. ''The nature of every shinobi is not battle programmed. Some of us do enjoy some peace.''

''Yes, I am seeing that now,'' her smile never escaped her face as she spoke. ''How was your journey?''

''It was lively. I came here with the Kazekage and his sister,'' Naruto responded calmly.

Miyuki took a thoughtful expression on her face. ''You are friends with Gaara, and work with his sister well. You have a good relationship with the Sand siblings. And I can see that relationship is paving way for better relations between Suna and Konoha.''

''The relations has soothed down before I was even introduced to the picture. I believe since Gaara took charge, things changed since he was more than willing to meeting the Godaime Hokage halfway in repairing the broken relationship,'' Naruto responded flatly. It was the efforts of both Gaara and Tsunade that made things the way they were. He would not take credit for something he did not work for.

Miyuki nodded. ''I know that. But what you are doing now is admirable. Not many leave fighting to venture in talking treaties and alliances with other villages. I do not think there is any village that does what you do for Konoha. Leaders are more mindful about their own villages and countries to bother with others. Most will even laugh when the other fail.'' She paused for a moment before continuing. ''Perhaps the Wind country as a whole will ally itself with Konoha.''

''That would be certainly great,'' Naruto said smiling.

''Well enough about the serious matter,'' the woman said giving the blond a wide smile. ''Come on. Let us go and find you a room so you can show me what you will be wearing tomorrow. I do not wish for you to show up looking like that.'' she said standing up.

''What?''

''I don't want you to ruin things with your choice of attire. If you are wearing what I don't like, I will have you change to wear something that I will like and will be suitable for the event tomorrow,'' she grabbed the blond by his right hand, dragging him out of the office.

''I will have you know that my sense of fashion is tolerable, and you will like what I have bought.''

''I doubt it, but surprise me.''

**Few days later (Konoha)**

''I am impressed,'' Jiraiya said looking straight at Naruto. Perhaps this was finally the child of prophecy. After what Tsunade had told him, he could not have been more proud of his godson. ''I know that your father would be proud of what you are doing.'' Although he did wish Minato was here to witness this. But that was just a lost cause. The Yondaime was not going to come back, he was dead.

''I have not done anything yet,'' Naruto stated, downplaying everything. ''There is still a long way to go.''

''Don't sell yourself shot, kid. No one has gotten three Great villages to join the same organisation. Not only that, but you also have the other small villages joining you. That is not something anyone can achieve. I am even tempted to say that I knew all along that you were born for great things,'' Jiraiya stated, a bit proudly.

''Jiraiya is right, what you have done is not something anyone can do. I never believed him when he spoke about the child of prophecy, but I may start believing him now,'' Tsunade said firmly.

Naruto just gave the Godaime a warm smile. He really did not know what to say.

''I have already sent a word to my spy network to help spread word of the UNA. Soon enough, you will have many small villages contacting you.''

''Thank you godfather. I was going to ask you to do something of that nature. But you have already taken care of it.''

Jiraiya waved his hand nonchalantly. ''Anything for peace,'' he shrugged.

''I have a request, Hokage-sama,'' Naruto said turning his voice serious.

''What is it?''

''If it is okay with you, I would like to relinquish this,'' he gave her his forehead protector. It meant much to him, but it was something that he had to sacrifice for the UNA. ''I wish to wear a new forehead protector, it is the headband of Uzu, but it will become the official headband of the United Nations Alliance. It will become a problem when I walk around carrying Konoha's headband, others will not think that I stand for the UNA's interests, but Konoha's. I wish to remove that thought.

This does not mean that I will no longer serve Konoha. I will always be a loyal person to this village. I may have had a troubled childhood because of the villagers, but this is my home, this is the village my parents died protecting. I do not wish to fight for acknowledgement, but I fight for peace.''

''That makes sense,'' Jiraiya said. ''I don't see much problem with it especially since Konoha and Uzu were tight before the latter village's fall.''

''Will this affect your work in this village?''

''Not at the moment, I will continue to do my work within the village. I will always be available should there be anything you need me to do,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''Okay,'' Tsunade said, surprising both Jiraiya and Naruto. But the look on her eyes said otherwise. Naruto was just not going to say anything about it or she would let loose of whatever she was bottling.

Naruto bowed his head slightly. ''Thank you, Baa-chan,'' he said before he stood up. ''Just to remind you; my trip to the Snow country has not been cancelled. That said, I will leave tomorrow morning. I will report at the borders of the Fire country before heading out to catch a ship that will be heading towards the Snow.''

Tsunade sighed. ''You never spend much time in the village anymore,'' she said sadly.

''I know, but if this is a sacrifice I must make for a better future, I will do so,'' Naruto said convincingly. ''Jiraiya, come and see me later on today. I have some matter I must discuss with you.'' With that, Naruto went away.

''He certainly has matured well,'' Jiraiya spoke with a warm smile.

''Indeed he has,'' Tsunade agreed. ''The Snow is far away. He will take some time to get there, and I have a feeling that he won't return soon. He is been pushing himself lately, and he may take some time off there away from everything.''

''I would not blame him,'' Jiraiya shrugged before grinning. ''But this works better for us. We will have much time to plan for his birthday while he is away.''

''I had thought you would have forgotten about it.''

Jiraiya shook his head.

**This is the end of chapter 17. I think this one was a little interesting compared to the previous chapters I have been posting. I hope to keep them interesting enough to get it through to where I want it to be and enough to please my readers.**

**I know that it does appear that Naruto is using Tsunade's affections for his own benefit. This is nothing compared to some of the things he will eventually do. **

**Tsunade is by no means happy with Naruto's choice. But I think she has learned enough that lashing out at Naruto solves nothing. Regardless, the issue is not over. It will be a recurring subject that I will fill in as the chapters go on.**

**The villain calls himself Juubi because if you read carefully, in the previous chapters, you will find that he has the chakra of the all tailed beasts. True, he is nowhere near as strong as the real thing. But I think the fact that he has all the chakra of the Bijuus gives him the right to call himself "Juubi". You can call him a miniature Ten Tails. As I said "Juubi" is just for now.**

**Again, I will say that the first action you saw of the weapon was a mere clone that Orochimaru was using for gathering battle data. The clone was created for battle. For this reason, it never talked to Naruto when they first battled. This is why you could call It mindless.**

**Orochimaru called the weapon a perfect weapon, I don't believe that you can call a mindless tool perfect. For Juubi to be perfect, he has to have power and the mind to use the power Orochimaru gave him.**

**No, Naruto is not going to have sex with Mei. He may be single, but won't be screwing every woman he comes across. **

**Grammar and spelling errors are big problems that I face. By all means I try to correct some mistakes, but I don't see everything. In response to this, at the end of every chapter I will put this…**

…**if anyone is interested in editing my work, please PM me. **

**Sir Rob Mulaudzi **


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Naruto sighed as he leaned back against his chair within his office at the Hokage tower. He'd returned from the Snow, no rather, the Land of Hot springs. Much of his time there had been spent vacating rather than working. He couldn't say that he didn't deserve some rest. He'd rested well, and had much fun in the village. He'd never laughed so hard while he spent his time at the Land led by Princess Koyuki Kazahama.

Since tomorrow would be his birthday, he thought it was best to return home. The Godaime had told him to return before the 10th and so he'd returned. However, since he'd missed much work, he decided to get on with it before anything else. He was thankful that Jiraiya was in the village. The man gave him the good news that his publisher liked his book, ''after today'' and had already gone with the publishing. Jiraiya had organized a good deal with the man.

The book had hit the shelves four days ago. He'd already received some good reports from some critics, but there were some who criticized his work. However, overall the reception from critics was good. It made him smile looking at their reviews. The sales were going slow, but given how the readers liked it, he was sure after a week or two or three, the book would be a hit. The first release was here in Konoha, and the sales were better than any other places it had been released. It was still early days to draw any conclusions.

The doors to his office burst open. He sighed when this happened. There was a lot of work in his desk that he needed to do and some documents he needed to sign. He also had other documents to approve on behalf of the United Nations Alliance. All these work required him to do and he still had to deal with this...

''Nii-san!'' Konohamaru, said as he entered the office. It wasn't a rare picture to see Konohamaru inside his office. The boy usually came here to bother him much, but he always gave time for the boy.

''Have I not beaten some manners into you, Konohamaru? Did I not tell you to knock before you enter my office? Isn't that the proper way for the candidate of the seventh Hokage?'' He gave a stern look on the boy that made him flinch.

''Sorry,'' Konohamaru said scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile. ''I was just really excited to seeing you since you have been gone for so long.''

''I can see,'' Naruto said, keeping his tone stern. ''Now go back and do what I told taught you or you'll face a punishment.''

Konohamaru didn't need to be told twice. He went away and closed the door. He knocked and Naruto allowed him to enter. ''Afternoon, Nii-san,'' the genin greeted politely, showing some manners Naruto had beat into him.

The blond smiled at the boy. ''Afternoon, how have you been?''

''Good,'' Konohamaru responded. ''I was wondering if you could teach me something new and there is someone who would like to be taught by you also.''

This caught Naruto's attention. ''Who is it?''

''Hyuuga Hanabi.''

''Hinata's younger sister,'' Naruto muttered. ''This is a surprise. Where is she?''

''She is at the training ground.''

''Give me two hours.''

Konohamaru grinned. ''Does this mean that you'll train her?'' he seemed really excited about this. It was very obvious by the look on his eyes.

''Go to the training ground,'' Naruto ordered without answering the question. ''I've work to do.''

''Yes sir!'' Konohamaru gave a slight mock salute before dashing off to the training ground, where Hanabi was waiting for him. He was probably running there to tell her the good news. Naruto shook his head seeing the boy run off. Within two hours, the sun would be setting, but training was a lot better when there sun wasn't beating down on you.

Without much time going, a purple haired Anbu appeared before the blond. Naruto acted as though he hadn't sense her, but he knew she was there. She mostly hanged about his office in the shadows. However, it wasn't always that she did that.

Finally, Naruto look up to her. ''Was there something?'' She was probably done for the day. So, she would be giving her report before walking away. He didn't have many conversations with the woman aside from work. She wasn't a bad person, she was okay.

''There was one Root Anbu who came here while you were called by nature. I think he was curious to see what you were working on since you only returned today's morning from the Snow country,'' Neko responded, monotonously. ''But when he sensed my presence, he quickly ran away before I could apprehend him.''

Naruto nodded. He was a little glad that he only kept files about the work he does for Konoha only. He didn't keep anything personal or about the United Nations Alliance within this place. He knew that Danzo wouldn't waste time to try to get his hands on the files. He would have already sent his Anbu to Uzu to see what had been built, but it was near impossible to enter the island. Given how crafty Danzo was, he wouldn't be surprised if the Root got in. But they wouldn't pass through the barrier that surrounds all the buildings he'd rebuilt.

''Danzo probably wants more information about the United Nations Alliance,'' he revealed some of his thoughts to the cat masked Anbu.

''Does he not know that you don't bring that work here?'' Even she knew that Naruto only worked Konoha business within this office. The only thing that would have the United Nations Alliance within the office would be Konoha's membership contract. Naruto was only reviewing it, but it would be held by Tsunade since she was the one representing Konoha within the UNA.

''I don't know. However I've a feeling he does, and might have done this with another purpose,'' Naruto responded, he seemed nonchalant about the whole matter. He didn't know what went on the mind of that man, so he wouldn't know many things about him.

Neko nodded. ''I'll take my leave. Before I forget, Kakashi senpai had told me you wanted a Kenjutsu sparring partner. I'm more than willing to be your partner,'' while she wouldn't say it aloud to the blond, she was afraid her skills would dull because she never really got to test all her skills with guarding duty and patrols.

Naruto smiled. ''The paperwork I do is indeed not a friend to my skills.'' he paused for a moment. ''I'll set up something on a later date.''

''Good.'' Neko said before disappearing into nothing.

''No then, to get some work done,'' Naruto muttered as he buried himself to his paperwork again.

**Training Ground 7**

Being in this training ground was kind of nostalgic. There were so many memories he had of this training ground. It wasn't that every memory he had of this place was pleasing. It was all amusing that he always smiled widely despite the fact that he couldn't say every memory was pleasing. Perhaps it was because of his obsession with Sakura and his desire to be closer to Sasuke. It turned well. Naruto shook his head; perhaps he shouldn't be sarcastic in his thoughts.

''Nii-san, you made it. I was beginning to think that you had ditched me for that old hag,'' Konohamaru exclaimed after Naruto made his appearance. ''Old hag'' was referred to the Godaime Hokage. The blond knew that the boy wouldn't call Tsunade an old hag in her face. If he did that, he would be facing hospital time.

In response, Naruto walked out to the genin. The boy seemed to sense that something was coming because he started to move back. ''I meant Hokage-sama!'' Konohamaru blurted out.

Naruto sighed, but didn't deliver a punishment to Konohamaru. He was likely going to take some time to teach the boy some manners. Perhaps he should leave it now since he has already taught him the basics. He could teach the boy more of manners once he made chunin. He was still just a genin, it was better to leave it for now. He was still a little younger; the best thing was to allow the boy to enjoy his genin days.

He turned around to look at the other genin. Hyuga Hanabi, a stoic looking young girl. ''Come here,'' he said looking straight at the girl, who was staring back at him without flinching. It was the usual fashion by which Hyuga's stared at you. Hanabi obediently walked towards him. But Konohamaru also came towards him. He looked at the boy, ''Do laps around the training ground while I speak with Hanabi.''

''But I've already done them,'' Konohamaru whined, loudly. Naruto noticed that Hanabi didn't spare the boy a glance. Her undivided attention was at him.

''I know,'' Naruto responded calmly. ''But do them again, but this time with some extra weight. I'd given you 5kg before, but now I'll increase it by 5 more. Once you get used to it, I'll increase it. But it'll take some time for you to get used to the weights.'' Before Konohamaru could object, Naruto placed his right hand on the boy's chest. The seal he had placed did what he wanted.

''I can't move like I used to...'' Konohamaru complained trying to move his body around. His movements were restricted because of the extra weights.

''Do what you are told, Konohamaru and try not to rob me by using a clone to do the laps for you. If you don't wish to do the laps, go to that that dummy,'' Naruto pointed at the dummy he was referring to, ''and do 250 punches plus 200 kicks, nonstop.''

That meant no break. ''I'll do the laps,'' Konohamaru said before walking away to do his laps. He had a feeling he would be forced to do the kicks and punches after the laps. Naruto could be quite sadistic when it came to training. It was best that he did the laps first. If he does the laps first, he would get a little break and he may be a little light.

Naruto turned to Hanabi. ''Introduce yourself,'' he said.

''Hyuuga Hanabi, second daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi, genin, shinobi registration number 12126789,'' the girl responded in a calm yet slightly cold tone.

Naruto shook his head. Even he was not this stiff. This girl could excel in Anbu. She had outstanding emotional control, far better than any young lad he knew. Well it was to be expected from a Hyuuga. Perhaps sticking her with Konohamaru would do well for her. ''Why are you not training with your team?''

''My so-called teammates are incompetent so is my sensei,'' that was a blunt, honest response from the Hyuuga.

Naruto almost smiled, but he kept his expression impassive matching Hanabi's. ''Incompetent, you say,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''That is something I'll have to look at. Konoha cannot afford to have incompetent jonin training young shinobi.''

If Hanabi was surprised, she hid it well despite her question. ''You seem to believe me...''

''That is because I know that not every sensei teach their students what is necessary. However, it could be just that you have high expectations on your sensei that he isn't able to meet. Regardless of who you believe you are, you are still a 12 year old girl,'' he then poked the girl on her forehead. The action seemed to annoy the girl, drawing a small smile from Naruto.

''Don't do that.'' She said firmly.

''You're very much different from your kind and gentle elder sister, Hinata,'' Naruto responded. Really, she was unlike her older sister.

''You know sister?''

''Yes, I graduated with her at the academy.''

''But you seem a little older and have achieved much more than Hinata. At least that is what father says.'' Hanabi responded, keeping her expression impassive.

''That is a story for another time. Now tell me; why do you wish to be trained by me?''

''Konohamaru says that you're a good sensei and since he started training with your clone, he has improved well. I didn't think that it was possible someone dumb as him to improve as much he has,'' Hanabi responded coolly. Well being subtle wasn't her strength. ''The chunin exams come after two months. They'll be held in January, unless they are postponed. Konoha will host the ones to be held in June next year. I wish to make chunin in my first try.''

Naruto nodded. ''Let me see what you can do then,'' he flicked his finger and a bullet of wind hit the girl in her forehead making her stumble backwards a little. ''Attack me with all you got.''

He got exactly that.

The girl attacked him relentlessly. It seemed like she had some point to prove. Her fighting style was hardcore, and she was fast as well as precise, for a genin that is. Despite all her attempts to hit Naruto with her mighty Byakugan activated, Hanabi couldn't land a single hit on Naruto.

It seemed that her new sensei was ridiculously fast and wasn't even slowing down to allow her to land a hit. It seemed that the man wasn't going to allow her to hit him. It was unlike most jonins, some would allow her to hit them just to make her feel a little more confident.

It wasn't that she lacked confidence. No, unlike her sister, she had it in abundance.

But with each failed attempt to nail her opponent, her confidence seemed to take a dive under the heavy currents of the sea waves. She was able to land a hit on her opponents, even if it did little. But she had never been unable to touch her opponent. Perhaps it was because most of her well trained opponents were from the Hyuuga clan. She didn't delude herself into thinking that she was much skilled to take on all her opponents. Her father was the one who never took it easy with her. But the rest of her trainers took it easy.

Well, she was the second daughter of the head clan, and was almost put as the heir when Hinata seemed to fail in everything that she did. Of course she was proud; she would do anything to make her father proud.

She did'not stop attacking her opponent though. She continued attacking him. She was then able to realize that he hadn't made an attempt to attack her. He was only dodging her blows instead of attacking. She entertained the thought that he may have been on the defensive too much to attack her.

When the thought ventured much within her mind, her confidence grew, so was her lost strength. She continued to attack him with as much effort as she could muster.

But that didn't change anything. By each strike, she grew frustrated as fatigue began to take charge. What was more frustrating for her was that she could see nothing from his face. It was just straight blank. Another thought that increased her frustrations was that she had discovered was that he wasn't attacking her because he simply didn't want to; perhaps he just wanted to tire her out. But if he was waiting for that, he got one thing coming for him. She wouldn't tire before he did.

She had the guts and determination. A clan less man like Naruto couldn't outclass her in everything. A pity, she was dealing with Namikaze Naruto.

Naruto looked at the girl straight into her tired eyes. She was attacking him even when she knew she couldn't beat him. She didn't seem to acknowledge that he was superior to her. Still, he couldn't deny that she a lot better than Konohamaru. She could probably wipe the floor with him if they spare together. The girl had no doubt been trained well and it was obvious that she'd been trained from her young age.

It was the benefits of being from a clan.

Naruto jumped away from the path of the girl. Her panting had become obvious. It seemed like she'd been doing laps around the village with Gai and Lee. Well, he could give her some note worthy credit on her endurance levels, as well as her chakra. Someone her age would have run out of chakra already. Well, there were those exceptionally gifted among the Hyuuga. If she was trained well, she could even succeed were Neji didn't.

Without warning, he vanished into thin air and appeared right in front of her. Her eyes became wide as his punch drove straight into her gut. She felt the impact straight on, and it hurt like hell. She tried hard to suppress a wince, but she failed miserably. Before she could even hit the ground, Naruto was waiting for her on where the momentum of the punch had been carrying her. This time it wasn't a punch, but a hard kick on her back. She was quick to hit the ground. She could have sworn that she heard something snap.

Naruto walked up to her calmly, it seemed intentional. She was tired, almost out of chakra and she could no longer keep her doujutsu activated. Her eyes looked at the blond as she tried to get back on her feet. His eyes were looking at her like a hawk. It was like he was measuring her, at every part. The intent and blank look on his eyes brought an unfamiliar feeling to her gut. Finally, he reached down to her.

''You are arrogant and overconfident. Most stuck up Hyuugas are that way but I'll drive that out of your system. Even if it means breaking every bone in your body,'' Hanabi wasn't given any time to think, or even muster a retort. She was pummeled down the ground by a swift back heel on her forehead, she lost her consciousness.

''Nii-san, don't you think you went a little rough on her. I mean it is her first day,'' Konohamaru said walking up to Naruto. He hadn't said anything when everything was happening, for he knew that he might be on the receiving end of the pain. He'd already had enough of the torture. He certainly didn't want to get to the hospital to get himself fixed today.

''I'll tone it down a bit tomorrow.'' Naruto responded turning his attention to Konohamaru. ''Have you finished what I instructed you to do?''

''Yes.'' He was a little afraid that the blond may tell him to do it again. But he was glad that the blond accepted his answer.

''Take a 10 minutes break. Don't do anything, if you even touch Hanabi, I'll be taking both you and Hanabi to the hospital,'' Konohamaru nodded vigorously before throwing himself down the ground. Naruto disappeared from the training. He had a feeling that the blond had gone to get some work done in his office. But Konohamaru didn't delude himself to believe that the blond hadn't left a clone hiding in the trees. And even if he hadn't left a clone, Naruto would know if he touched Hanabi, and he would make true to his word.

10 minutes later...

Not, even a second late,'' Konohamaru grumbled to himself after Naruto appeared. He'd recovered a little bit. His exercise he had done hadn't burned all of his chakra, but it was enough to wear him out, and he'd also rested a little when Naruto was still being sadistic with Hanabi.

''How far are you on the **Rasengan?**''

Konohamaru had been learning the Rasengan for more than a month now. ''I've been failing to get the Rasengan complete with a single hand. But I can do it with clones like you taught me,'' he beamed proudly at the last words.

Naruto nodded. ''Your chakra control is still dismissive, it appears.'' The reason he couldn't do the **Rasengan** with a single hand was his chakra control. He knew very well since he once had the same problem. But he was a Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and never actually had any formal training on chakra control and his chakra pools were outrageous for a genin. Konohamaru didn't have the same amount of chakra he had.

''Hey, I've improved my chakra control!'' Konohamaru took offence in Naruto's words.

''Yes, I know you've improved,'' Naruto responded. ''But it is still not enough.'' He looked straight at boy. ''If you had taken Ebusu's training seriously, we wouldn't be having this talk. But it is your laziness that brought you to this point,'' he paused for a moment shaking his head. ''Create a clone and head to the usual sport to do water walking.''

Konohamaru complied. ''When are we going to do ninjutsu? You've only taught me the Rasengan, and Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.''

''I'll get on to that,'' Naruto said in a dismissive tone. ''I need to get your taijutsu, endurance, mental sharpness, and speed to a good level. You also suck at genjutsu, hence the need to better your chakra control.''

''But the exams will start in January.''

''There will be enough time to train you,'' Naruto stated dismissively. He wasn't oblivious to anything. But he knew that Konoha wouldn't be able to host the chunin exams at the beginning of the year. There was so much that needed to be done at the beginning of the year. He had no doubt that the village won't be able to host the exams. Perhaps they would leave to attend at another village. ''Tell you what; if I like your improvement, I'll teach you ninjutsu next month.'' What Konohamaru didn't know was that he had planned to teach him ninjutsu next month anyway

''Cool!'' The boy exclaimed happily. ''Since my clone will be busy with chakra control, what am I going to be doing?''

Naruto took out a book and threw it at Konohamaru. ''The book contains shinobi rules. The kind of rules Iruka taught you at the academy. But during our time, I've discovered that you've not learned them. You will learn them, and in seven days, you will write a test, along with Hanabi.'' He paused for a moment. ''Should you fail the test, I may decide against teaching you ninjutsu.''

Konohamaru gritted his teeth. He had a feeling that Naruto just wanted him to study and know all the rules. It wasn't the first time Naruto had forced him to study a book. And he knew what happened when didn't do that. The blond always stayed true to his word. ''Fine,'' he relented.

''Good, now put that book away so that we can get you used to fighting with your extra weight,'' Naruto said.

Konohamaru became nervous. ''I can just go back to beating the dummy,'' he said, not looking forward to being beaten up by Naruto. But deep inside of him, he wanted to show Naruto how much he's improved over the time he'd been away. He knew that Naruto would praise him for improvements he made. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he felt good when Naruto praised him.

''No, this is necessary. There is no better way for you to get used to the weights faster than engaging in an actual fight,'' Naruto stated. But he knew that Konohamaru just wanted to skip the routine beat down. ''This will also improve your senses as well as reflexes. You may not have noticed this, but each time you fight, there is always something new you learn about your opponents' fighting style as well as your own. Actual battles give you experience, and experience is very much valuable. Many have been saved not just by skill, but by experience.''

It took a few moments for Konohamaru to understand everything Naruto had said. When he had understood, he grinned. ''Fine, let us do this. I'll show you how much I've improved so far,'' the boy stated, taking a proper taijutsu stance. At this time, he'd already forgotten about Hanabi.

By the time the said Hyuuga girl woke up, Konohamaru was busy with Naruto. She held her head as it was throbbing. Her head wasn't the only part that was in pain, it seemed like she had broken a rib. She could feel the pain down there. She looked around to see that she hadn't been moved from the place she had fallen to. Her attire was also unspeakable. Her condition as a whole was disturbing.

The nerve of that man to leave her like this!

Naruto sensed that Hanabi had woken up and decided to end things with Konohamaru; he'd seen enough. Two brutal kicks later, Konohamaru was on the ground clutching his gut. Naruto noted that he would have to take both his students to the hospital before they went home. He was done anyway. He just needed to talk with Hanabi first.

He motioned for Konohamaru to follow him towards Hanabi. ''You are good for a genin. Your attacks have little power though. And you are arrogant as well as overconfident. The moment I told you to attack me, you attacked me straight without a plan or a strategy. You thought you could actually hit me. Who the hell attacks a jonin without a plan? Mind you? You are just a little girl who thinks she is above all her graduating class in everything. You started to attack recklessly when you noticed that I was avoiding your every attack. If that was a real battle, Hiashi and Hinata would've already buried you by now.''

Hanabi took all that without as much as flinching.

''I will train you; I'll drown your arrogance and overconfidence. I'll make you fast, increase your endurance and give you more agility and flexibility. I'll teach you to fight without the Byakugan.'' It would take years to accomplish, but it was possible. ''You're predictable, but I will erase that.'' He paused giving her his hand. ''We'll start your first day of training tomorrow. Now come on, let me take you to the hospital.''

Hanabi thought for a few seconds, before she nodded. But she didn't take his hand. She could get up on her own. Naruto merely smiled at her. And they started walking back towards the village, both genins flanking both his left and right sides.

''Nii-san, can't we get something to eat before we head to the hospital?''

''Sure, why not?''

Hanabi had other thoughts. ''Sensei,'' Naruto looked at her. ''I prefer to get myself cleaned first, and I refuse to be seen eating while looking like this.''

**The following day**

''I have a feeling that today will be a good day,'' Juubi said in a tone that was nothing but hollow. ''Despite this feeling, I have to make a name for myself.''

''I thought what you've been doing over the past month was making a name for yourself. You've destroyed three villages, and have been attacking everything group of shinobi you came across. You even allowed some to get away so that they could tell what they have seen,'' a voice responded, no feeling of surprise in the voice.

''It is not enough. I have not even entered the Bingo books of any Great Shinobi village. I have to make an attack one of the stronger villages, and then they'll have me in their bingo books. I know for a fact that these stronger villages tend to overlook things when you pick on the weak. They'll not make much of my power until I show them what I can do.''

''Konohagakure is the strongest village. If you attack them they may put you in their bingo books. But at these days, their strongest shinobi are all inside the village, attacking it would be tricky. However, I know you can succeed. Suna is still small, Kiri is still weak. That would leave Iwagakure and Kumo. But with your plans for Iwa, we rule out the village. Kumo may be tricky, even if you attack the village, there is no guarantee that the Raikage will even bother to put you in his bingo books,'' the other man reasoned.

''Then Konoha it is,'' Juubi said getting up from his throne.

'''...today will be a good day'', you'd already planned on attacking Konoha. Now I understand what you meant by that. Could it be that you plan on attacking because today is the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki's birthday?'' there was some silence. ''According to Orochimaru's Intel, the boy has never had a good birthday before, and I believe with everything he's been doing, they might plan something big for him. But you already knew that did you not?''

Juubi merely smiled as he started walking. ''Observe what Tsuchikage's daughter will do with her army when they attack Amegakure. I know for a fact that Naruto will appear. His appearance will spark things a little bit,'' a pause. ''I'll be gone for a few days to handle some business.''

''By business, you mean Danzo?''

There was no response to the question. Juubi simply disappeared from the dimly lit room.

**Konohagakure (morning)**

''Happy birthday, Nii-san/sensei!'' Naruto was welcomed by the two voices in his home training ground. He'd said for them to be at the training ground in his home at about this time since he wanted to deal with a few things with them. It was better to train in here since they could get some privacy. He had noticed that there were eyes looking at him as he trained the kids yesterday. It was best that he did not use that training ground again.

He smiled at the two. He could never forget that today was his birthday. This was a day that was a curse to him. It was a day that kami seemed to love screwing him up over and over again. The only time he had enjoyed his birthdays was when he was with Itachi. But within this village, he has never enjoyed his birthdays. It seemed that Kami's full power and influence worked well when he was inside this village.

Yes, Kami worked wonders on the 10th of October.

''I thought my precious students would have forgotten about their sensei's birthday,'' Naruto said walking up to the two.

''I would never forget your birthday Nii-san,'' Konohamaru responded coolly.

Hanabi snorted. ''You were reminded of it three days ago by Iruka-sensei. Had it not been for him, you would've forgotten about it. I may not have known about it if I hadn't been with him when Iruka spoke about it. I also overheard sister talking about it with Neji-nii.''

''You just had to ruin the moment, Hanabi-chan!'' Konohamaru exclaimed looking straight at the young girl.

''I've told you many times not to call me that!''

Konohamaru shrugged. ''Anyway, we made this for you,'' he handed Naruto a framed picture. It was the three of them in front of Icharaku ramen. After he'd taken the genins to the hospital, he had brought them to the ramen stand so they could have some ramen. Hanabi didn't seem to like the food, but she ate it. The picture was taken after they'd eaten. It was on Konohamaru's insistence that they get one.

''So this is why you insisted on taking the picture yesterday,'' Naruto said looking at the picture. Team 7 had taken one like this. But he no longer had the picture he'd taken with team 7. Okay, maybe that is a lie. He still had it; it was just inside his basement where he stored his weapons. ''Thank you,'' he said putting away the picture. ''Now let us get down to business.''

He motioned for Hanabi to sit before him, and created a clone to help instruct Konohamaru. He had about 3 to four hours to train them before he goes to work. He needed to instruct the boy with Taijutsu. He had seen some flaws that left the boy wide open to attacks. It was better to correct them now before he went further with any other part of their training. He needed to ensure that Konohamaru's taijutsu wasn't flawed and full of holes.

He didn't want anything that would give Gai a heart attack.

Speaking of the man, he had yet to speak with him since he returned yesterday. It was made known to him that the man was out of the village on a mission. They had training in the mornings. Well, he would speak with the man once he returned. Training with Gai and Lee was good for his speed and Taijutsu.

He sat down in front of Hanabi and looked straight at her. ''This will be a process we'll do each time I train you. I'll do this until you can sing every word I say to you.''

''I doubt there will be anything you can teach me in this regard. Father insured I was drilled everything that I'll need in my shinobi career,'' Hanabi responded coolly. She didn't need any more knowledge drilled into her head. She already had enough and it came from the Hyuuga clan. Naruto was impressive, but he was clan less.

''That attitude is what needs to be fixed,'' Naruto responded in a calm tone. ''You are thinking because I do not come from a clan I cannot teach you anything. You think low of anyone that doesn't come from a clan. You believe that because you come from a clan that makes you superior to any other person.''

''My belief is justified. Clan children are taught many things from their young age, unlike clan less children who only get taught worthless things in the academy. Clan children are better than clan less children. The other children cannot defeat me in a battle.'' Hanabi gave a calm reply.

Naruto had to admit that she had some merit in her view. But, ''That doesn't give you the right to overlook everyone because they are not from a clan. Your attitude makes you underestimate everyone that isn't from a clan. This only gives birth to your abundant arrogance and overconfidence.''

Hanabi seemed to shrug. ''I've yet to be proven wrong. I have bested anyone in my graduation class.''

Naruto sighed. This was going to be tougher than he thought. ''Regardless, I'll rearrange your mindset and try to help give you a new thought process.'' His tone was stern and final. It was a tone of finality that left the girl without anything to say. ''I have a few rules and expectations from you. But it doesn't seem that I will be worried about you not making it in time for our appointments.''

''I'm unlike Konohamaru; I am not ill-disciplined and do not lack manners.''

''I have noticed that,'' Naruto responded. ''Tell me Hanabi, if your teammates were hurt so is your jonin, you are on a mission. You are the only one left standing, unhurt. You could make efforts and make the mission succeed or you can abandon the mission, and save your teammates. What would you do?''

''It is obvious; I would leave my teammates and continue with the mission. If my jonin sensei was hurt as well as my teammates, and I was not, he must be useless. It is better to leave him be. Everyone knows that the mission is more important than anything,'' Hanabi responded as though it was the obvious thing. It was obvious that this was what she could do if the opportunity presented itself.

Naruto gave the girl a stern look that made her flinch, involuntary. ''When you are a team, you're supposed to trust each other. Your teammates trust you with their lives. How can you betray their trust like that? If you're willing to abandon your teammates like that, you shouldn't be in a team. You should reconsider being in a team and work alone, that way you can die easily.

Teams strive for the same objective, but when a member of a team is hurt, the rest of the teammates have to stop everything and tend to the teammate. For a team to be successful, you have to trust each other. If you're willing to abandon your teammates, you aren't suited for team dynamics. Shinobi who abandon their teammates are cold hearted little bitches who don't understand the value to teammates. Little bitches like you shouldn't be shinobi; I cannot train one that does not value human life.

You are one of those hypocrites that embrace Konoha's hypocritical standing of teaching team dynamics to make them look good, but yet teach their shinobi to abandon their teammates. I dislike hypocrites, and I will dislike you if you continue to think like that. You will not have friends, and your teammates will dislike you. Value your teammates as friends, and you will enjoy being a shinobi.

As you are now; if you were hurt, your teammates would abandon you and leave you to be violated by bandits. They will probably sell you to slavery. I am sure you know what happens in slavery.''

Hanabi ignored the foul language and refused to say anything. She had no doubt that her teammates didn't like her. She'd always thought that it was because they were jealous of her. Those who were weak always felt envy for those strong and privileged. She wouldn't feel 'wrong' because she had everything she wanted and took advantage of it to become better.

''I cannot make a decision now, but after some time, and I see that you haven't changed, I'll stop training you. I refuse to train a blind child. But to give you a chance and to be fair, I'll see out if you cannot change,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''I do believe that anyone can change, if they are willing to change. What I ask is for you to consider this.''

Hanabi was still quite. ''I'll give it a chance, but I'll not compromise my principles for anyone.''

Naruto smiled at her. ''I do not wish for you to change your principles. Your principles are what make you Hyuuga Hanabi. But some principles of certain people are flawed, I merely wish to adjust them to make you a better person than you are today.''

Hanabi nodded, quietly.

''Good, now let us get to something else.'' Naruto stated. ''This is something I'll tell you now and will always tell you should you remain to be my student; when in battle, expect the unexpected, and do the unexpected. I told you yesterday that you are predictable. Being predictable in battle lessons your odds of winning.

You have this thing of sizing down your opponents due to their image. Stop it. Never underestimate your opponent, never let your guard down, and never ever turn your back on your opponent because you think you've won.

When trapped, trust your instincts.

Never attack an opponent without thinking twice, always have a strategy. When you enter a battle without a strategy, you are most likely to lose a foot, a hand, the battle or even your life. Always try to think ahead of your opponent, that way you can have the advantage over him/her. When you don't think, you are blind, and are most likely to be killed.

You must always be aware of your surroundings. Don't engage in battle without viewing your battleground or you might find in a place that is full of traps or that will be of a disadvantage to you.

Don't rely too much on your eyes, or you'll be killed when you can't fight without then. Use your eyes as a precious weapon, tool that ought to be used when facing an opponent worthy of them. Always have a backup plan and always have a trump card. Try always to end the battle quickly, don't become overconfident because you seem to be winning, or you may end up dead. Did you get all that?''

''Yes, it doesn't seem difficult.'' Hanabi replied after she had taken in everything Naruto had told.

''Good,'' Naruto said standing up. ''Let us repeat yesterday's practice. But today I'll give you a handicap. You'll only use your Byakugan when I tell you. I will not give you weights today.''

''It will not be easy as it was yesterday,'' the girl said taking a stance. ''I've analyzed your fighting style and movement patterns.''

''I hope you don't disappoint then. Remember, think, expect the unexpected and know this; what you see isn't always the truth or reality. Appearances can be deceiving,'' Naruto motioned for the girl to come towards him.

**Later that day (BBQ Restaurant)**

The dim lights of the young night welcomed Naruto as soon as he entered the restaurant. He had a feeling that there was something that had been prepared for his birthday. And this calling was only confirming his suspicions. It had been a suspicious day overall. Tsunade had not bugged him while he was working after handling his training with Hanabi and Konohamaru. The Godaime had oddly only come to greet him and give him more work. It was like she had hiding something from him. He did not bother much about it. But he knew that something was going on.

The first thing was that Tsunade would not have allowed him to work on his birthday. The woman was very strict when time called for it. But it was his birthday, with how much she cared for him; she would have threatened him to take a day off. But she hadn't. It was obvious from that moment that the woman wanted to keep him busy. She knew that once he started working, he took his work serious. He didn't like taking some time off from work. He liked getting his work done before anything.

His peers had only greeted him like always, to those he had seen on the day so far. That was not out of the ordinary. He wasn't expecting anything from them. True they were his friends, but his birthday was something that he kept to himself. He doubted that they knew about his birthday. Back then, he would not want them to know that he was born the night the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. And those were sad days anyways. It was best left alone.

Shaking his head, Naruto moved forward to the restaurant.

Sakura smiled when she felt Naruto's presence. She hoped this would be a good night for him. Tsunade had stressed to make this day better for him. The other friends were also looking forward to this night.

They were also going to use this night to congratulate Naruto on his achievements. They were aware of what he's been doing since he returned from his 'training trip' and they had yet to honor him for that, this was the day.

Jiraiya couldn't wait to see the look on Naruto's face. Although he suspected the blond knew they had something planned, he knew that Naruto would be surprised by all these. It was the first time he was celebrating his birthday with his friends after all.

This was good to attempt to fix what he didn't do back then. Though things were good between him and Naruto, it still didn't change the fact that he abandoned the blond when he needed him.

Hinata smiled warmly at what was going to happen tonight. She had always wanted to give Naruto a present when it was his birthday. However, she was never able to do so. Today represented the chance for her to do just that. She would finally do what she'd been failing to do over the past years.

''Here he comes,'' Ino whispered, ''In, 3...2...1...''

''Surprise!''

Oh, how surprised he was. The lights finally came to life and Naruto saw everyone - his peers, jonin-senseis of his peers, Tsunade and his godfather. There were no children, not that there were any children in the shinobi world. The place had some fine decorations, and he could see the warm smiles that everyone was giving him.

He felt something tingling inside his heart. It was something that he'd never felt before. This alien feeling brought much warmth to his closed heart. Whatever it was, he liked it.

He smiled warmly at everyone, but they didn't say anything, they all waited for him to speak the next words.

But before Naruto could even speak, another voice spoke, ''finally, the main menu has appeared,'' it was chilling, and cold. Judging by the expressions of everyone, this wasn't part of the play. Naruto had been quick to realize. The narrowed looks Tsunade and Jiraiya were giving were something impossible to fake.

''Is this part of the surprise?'' Kiba asked looking at Shikamaru. He was certainly not getting a good feeling about the voice, hence the question. There was also the fact that he couldn't see the person who had spoken. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had yet to sense the person speaking.

Shikamaru only shook his head slightly. This was definitely not part of the surprise. He'd organized everything with Jiraiya, and Tsunade. This wasn't something they had planned, and judging by their looks, they also hadn't planned this. 'Ah, this is going to be a drag. So much for a good night,' the Nara heir thought with a barely suppressed sigh.

Before anyone could do anything further, Juubi appeared. He was standing between Naruto and the rest of the gang. His back was turned against the gang as he faced the blond. ''Hello Naruto.'' He gave the blond a smile, a happy smile that showed none of the man's intentions.

''You...'' Yes, this was the man he'd faced when he was travelling with Jiraiya. He could never forget this face. He had been having a feeling that he would see the man again, and his gut had been proved right. This wasn't good.

''Ah, you remember me. Well, you did destroy me, my clone to be precise,'' Juubi paused for a moment.

Jiraiya and Tsunade flashed right beside Naruto. The latter had seen how much Jiraiya had tensed by the sudden appearance of this man. He was certainly strong, she could feel it and the feeling he gave wasn't good. A single look into his black eyes told her that this wasn't going to end up well.

''Who are you and what do you want with Naruto? This is the second time you show yourself before him,'' Jiraiya demanded, taking charge of the proceedings.

''I haven't introduced myself to you,'' he was certainly not speaking to Jiraiya. ''I am Juubi, and have an interest in you, Namikaze Naruto. But for today, I merely came to give you a present, which I have no doubt you'll like. It is your birthday after all.''

''I have no interest in you, and what makes you think that I'll like your present?'' Naruto responded, coolly, with narrowed eyes. This was indeed not good. He could feel it in his gut that something bad was going to happen.

Perhaps Naruto shouldn't have asked the question, if the smile on Juubi's face said anything. The man raised his right hand before pointing it towards the gang behind him. Naruto tensed quickly before flashing in front of the group. A powerful blast of red energy was released. The blast sped towards the group in blinding speeds. Naruto had no doubt the jonins would be able to protect themselves, but he was certain some from his peer group wouldn't be able to shield from the blast.

It wasn't that he underestimated them. He just knew what this thing was capable of doing.

He quickly tried to perform the space/absorption barrier to absorb the blast in its fullness. But the blast came at a faster speed and he was not able to the last hand seal for the jutsu to work successfully. The result was an explosion that destroyed the whole restaurant. The explosion alarmed the Anbu near-by to come and check what was happening.

Naruto had been hit by some of the blast. Even though his jutsu had been a failure, he was able to protect everyone. Before he could recover, Juubi was right in front of him. Naruto was not expecting this. It was obvious that everyone else was still caught up in the explosion to notice this. And this man had taken advantage of the distraction to attack him. The man was only focusing on him only. Naruto could sense that the man was also in other positions. He figured that it was clones.

A hard kick to the temple sent him flying towards another building nearby. He crashed painfully into the building, but was able to recover quickly and jumped to the rooftop of the building. Before he could do anything, Juubi was right in front of him again. This time, Naruto was ready, so he flashed away from the path of another kick. But the man had been expecting it. He quickly appeared before him again. But this time, he showed no sign of attacking.

''You are not the only one who is fast,'' Juubi said before pointing down at the destroyed building. Naruto narrowed his eyes down. Various shinobi were battling with copies of the man. ''Those clones are a ticking time bomb. Once one is destroyed, the others will explode. I am sure you can figure out what will happen after ward...''

''What do you want?''

''Hmm? I just want to play with you. This is my first move. After this, I will wait for you to play the next move. Should I grow impatient waiting for you, I'll be forced to make you come out,'' Juubi stated.

''Why?''

''I am interested in you.'' Perhaps the fact that the blond was the first he ''battled'' had somewhat made him obsess about him. Naturally, he would not call it an obsession.

Naruto narrowed his eyes behind him as he sensed something moving towards him fast. He quickly pulled a kunai as the clone of Juubi came charging behind him. He was fast to react as he plunged the kunai into the clone's neck. What he did not expect was for the clone to explode. But he was able to shield himself from the blast.

Before he could quickly recover, Juubi was onto him. They were still on top of the building. The man had his right hand raised, pointed against him. Black spiral energy formed, it was dangerously close to him. When it was released in a flash, everything went black.

**End of chapter**

**Juubi Jr? No. there name will be Juubi until his plans are made to known to the shinobi world. For now, he is merely playing, looking for allies, building a reputation. As you might have noticed, the other person who always speaks to him never calls him Juubi.**

**As always, thank you for the reviews.**

**Sir Rob Mulaudzi **


	19. Chapter 19

**19**

The Hospital; it was the first thought that invaded Naruto's mind as soon as he opened his eyes and the brain started to register his sense of smell and touch. He was wide awake. He really hated the smell the hospital gave him and would rather recover at his home rather than at a place like this one.

Sighing, Naruto looked at his left where the window was, judging by the creeping darkness, it was perhaps midnight. Naruto figured that he'd been out cold for a few hours till now. He looked at to the right where was a small table with a two bottles of water and a cup. Beside those three things was a Konoha forehead protector.

Naruto shook his head after seeing the headband; he could recognize it at any time of the day. That was his forehead protector; it was the same he'd returned to Tsunade. The Godaime was probably not going to allow him to get off it that easily. He guessed she'd refused to say anything rash that day because it would've only driven him further away.

It was a change of way of doing things. It wasn't natural of Tsunade work around things in such a subtle manner. The Godaime Hokage always favored a more forceful way of handling things. She always liked to forced things over, even when they didn't want to fit in, she would smash them inside the port to fit in with her chakra enhanced punches.

He didn't mind the change though; it wasn't that bad.

He examined his body and saw that it wasn't damaged, but his entire upper body was bandaged, just like after he'd returned when he retrieved Sasuke from trying to flee the village to the seductive snake Sannin. The thought brought a frown on his face.

Naruto got out of the bed and stood on his own feet and smiled mildly, replacing the frown that had crept into his face. ''Yugao,'' the blond called as he could feel the presence of the purple haired Anbu.

Yugao appeared in a silent flash within the room and looked carefully at the blond. ''It is nice to see you are finally awake. Tsunade-sama had given you a dose of drugs to keep you asleep for the rest of the night though.'' She said.

The Godaime had known that if Naruto woke up in the middle of the night, he would no doubt leave the hospital without proper rest. She had given him the drug so that he could rest throughout the night without anything interrupting him. She'd said that it was best for Naruto to rest, especially since he was always working himself much harder than she did.

''Something like that wouldn't work with my tenant still kicking,'' Naruto responded with a small smile. He sat down on the bed again, and looked back at Yugao. His head was pounding mercilessly, but he kept his expression schooled like nothing was wrong.

''Tsunade-sama had thought it would work even though you are a Jinchuriki. Perhaps her calculations were a bit off,'' Yugao responded quietly, tone a bit thoughtful at her last words.

Despite the fact that Naruto hid it well, she could see that he was experiencing some discomfort, which is why he sat down. She didn't say anything though. But she did wonder how long he would keep it down. Still, considering what had happened a few hours earlier, she would have to report it to the Godaime. It was for Naruto's well-being after all.

''If I wasn't injured or wounded it would've worked. When the Kyuubi is healing my wounds, its chakra floods my system, and it burns any substance inside my body that isn't welcomed,'' Naruto explained lightly. ''You must be tired watching me all these time I was out.''

Yugao shook his head slightly. ''I'm already used to it. But I'll admit that I do get lonely at times,'' she said, taking a few steps back to lean against the wall. Since it was just Naruto and him being up meant she was now off-duty, she removed her mask and folded her hands across her chest.

She'd been Anbu for a long time now, and she was now one of the important and most trusted members of the Anbu force. That was why she was the only one even trusted with Naruto's safety. However, being an experienced Anbu didn't mean that she was completely unaffected by working all alone in the middle of the night. No, it did get lonely at times, but this was her job.

''I assume it would be so,'' Naruto said, he looked at Yugao rather inventively and tilted his head a little drawing a questioning look from the older woman.

''Is something wrong?''

Naruto shook his head slightly. ''I don't know why I never noticed it before, but you look rather lovely without that mask,'' a smile graced his lips as he spoke. There was no doubt about it, this woman was indeed beautiful and since it came to his mind, he thought it was best to say it.

Yugao offered the blond a smile, ''Thank you,'' she said thanking him for the complement. ''Your smile is rather beautiful, you should keep it often.'' Since it was somewhat related to what he'd said, she thought she'd offer her own thought to him. She'd noticed that smiling often wasn't something that he always did these days.

The smile he gave these days paled in comparison with the large smile he always used to wear when he was still an orange brat. But now he'd grown up and only reserved his smiles for certain people. His attitude reminded her of Itachi a little. The raven-haired Uchiha always wore an impassive look on his face, and his speech was put in more or less the same way as Naruto does these days.

''I will keep that in mind,'' when he attempted to enlarge his smile, his headache glared at him with a rather painful slap that just reminded him that it was still there even though he was ignoring it. His mask slipped for a second, but Yugao didn't comment on it. ''Was anyone hurt?''

That was a concern for him and he really needed to know. He wasn't going to go on to blame himself and put himself up for grabs for holding all the weight this mess has created. No, he'd learned enough to know that it would only make him miserable. Bearing things that he shouldn't only dragged him down and sucked out his happiness. It was okay to be concerned and seek alternative methods to handle the problem.

Blaming oneself didn't solve anything.

It was still hard to grasp that on his birthday, Kami had decided to screw him over again. However, it was alright with him. His happiness did matter a lot and besides, he couldn't find peace if he was just miserable shinobi holding all the weight of problems on his shoulders. The happier one was, the brighter the path one sets for him/herself.

Yugao shook her head, ''Everyone is alright. There was only some property damage, but it should be fixed soon as it wasn't anything disastrous,'' the Anbu responded calmly.

Naruto nodded. At least it was some good news. He wouldn't have been happy if others were hurt. However, just because everyone else was fine didn't mean that he was going to allow this declaration of war to go unpunished. No, he would search more about this man and do something about his attack.

''That is at least some good news,'' Naruto finally responded with a release of his breath in relief.

''It is still such a pity that your birthday was never celebrated,'' Yugao said with a small sad on her face. With everything he's gone through in his life, she believed that he'd deserved at least a good night with friends and ''family'', but it was never forth coming. What was worse was that he'd been standing on the door of ''good time'' and had caught a glimpse of it but was never able to touch it because it just went boom!

''Yeh,'' Naruto could give a short response with a sad smile that matched Yugao's.

Yugao noted that he wasn't burying his emotions so that she couldn't see that was indeed sad that it had gone badly a few hours ago. It was a good sign on him personality. There were people who refused to show it even when they were hurting and that only brought them more sadness.

''Don't allow it to get to you. It was something that no one was expecting. When things like this have happened we can only accept them and move on with our lives,'' Yugao advised wisely. Well, she had more years under her belt than the blond and these years being Anbu have taught her many things and she wasn't stingy enough to deny the blond a few words of comfort.

Naruto merely nodded in response choosing silence over adding something.

''Are you going to be aright alone or should I accompany you?'' Yugao said, knowing that even if Tsunade had said he shouldn't leave, he was going to leave. If not, the Godaime would not have gone was far was to have him drink sleeping pills.

''Thanks, but I'll manage alone. You should go home and rest. It is already late anyway,'' Naruto said with a small smile. He then stood up and took a step towards his headband, and then the headache slapped him again. His movements halted for a second.

''Are you alright, Naruto?'' Yugao asked with concern evident in her expression.

Naruto nodded, ''I-I have a serious headache, but I'll manage. I have some pain killers in my house,'' the blond responded before he reached the forehead protector. He took it and looked back at Yugao with a smile. ''Thanks for watching over me, and good night,'' he disappeared in a flash of yellow after those words escaped his lips.

'Good night,' Yugao responded in thought before sighing. She needed some rest. Without wasting more sleep time, the purple haired Anbu disappeared from the room in a puff of smoke.

**The following day, Tsunade's office**

The Fifth Hokage looked at her former teammate, Jiraiya, who was sitting comfortably by the window frame, looking outside the Hokage tower. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, a pity the Godaime didn't have one of those Yamanaka techniques to invade his mind. It would be a blessing if she had a technique like that though, she wouldn't need to open her mouth and use bodily threats to get half truths from anyone.

Leaving her day dreaming, Tsunade looked back to the paperwork in front of her. Looking at it, she had no words to define it, she merely picked up a pen and began writing and signing a few forms. She could think while doing this kind of work.

Despite some public damage from last night's incident, there were no causalities that they'd suffered. It would've been certainly unacceptable if they'd suffered some causality, especially when Konoha's strongest had been present during the attack. There was nothing that could shout a loud and clear message that said 'we've become weak' than something of such a nature occurring under their watch.

She'd not think that something like that would happen. No, she was only planning to have a good night drinking some sake and enjoying Naruto's night. Perhaps she may have even pestered Naruto get her some of that sake from the Land of Toads. She could almost drool at the thought of such sake washing over her throat with that burning sensation. The thought made her swallow and lump and stop such thoughts before she became excited.

After all the planning they'd gone through to insure that Naruto had a wonderful birthday, Kami had to screw it all up. Tsunade felt angry at such a reality to be scripted for their lives to see. The Godaime had thought something wonderful for Naruto would happen, but wasn't the case.

Well, what happened, happened. Moping around about it and singing curses to Kami wasn't going to solve it. No, it was only going to make them worry and be miserably. The only choice they had was to accept it and move on with their lives. Tsunade could only hope that Naruto had such thoughts inside his mind.

''What is keeping that brat up anyway?'' Tsunade asked, looking back at her former teammate. She couldn't quite focus on her work today until she spoke to her beloved blond.

''Don't be impatient, Hime,'' Jiraiya said with a small shrug of his shoulders. ''He will come when he is ready. He must have spent much of the time during the night thinking rather than sleeping,'' the Toad Sage reasoned.

He could understand that not everything with Naruto would be in place after what has been happening around his life recently. He'd discovered that the stress of killing was getting to him since it wasn't something that he was used to dealing with, and this was bound to shake him up. If the blond had just woken up like everything was perfectly fine, then he would be obligated to check whether something had flipped inside Naruto's head.

Tsunade nodded. ''I understand that, but it is still unusual for him to wake up this late and be late for a meeting. We called him some time ago and still there hasn't been anything,'' a thoughtful looked morphed into Tsunade's expression as she spoke.

She'd seen him work over night, but he would still wake up early to begin the day. Regardless of whatever he seemed to do, Naruto had always been the one to wake up early and he always respected her calls. Well, that is after he returned from his training trip outside the village.

Continuing, Tsunade spoke again, ''Keeping someone on the watch out for him seems like a good decision to make. I understand we can't always have someone with him, but whenever possible, Yugao has to be watching his back.''

Jiraiya nodded, having nothing against Tsunade's suggestion. ''It will be good since we don't know if something like this will happen again. Naruto can't always be looking at his back, someone trusted must be watching his back when he can't.''

No one was invincible in this shinobi world, regardless of how strong you were. Jiraiya had lived long enough to know that you couldn't even survive in this world if you were alone, especially for someone like Naruto. He was both the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and the only child for the late Yondaime Hokage. Aside from that, Naruto was trying to form relationships between Konoha and other villages, not everyone agreed with that thought.

Given all these, his life is always to be at risk. Being a ninja was a risk itself. There are so many things that pile up and many masked creatures that come across in the road of shinobi, and those who were alone had a limited time parading about the death and agony filled road.

''We also have to deal with this new threat. From his appearance, he is the same person whose been causing trouble in the smaller villages,'' Jiraiya added. Shielding Naruto wasn't going to do it at all. It was only half the job; the threat also had to be removed from existence if the blond was to be safe. ''If nothing else, he appears to be making a name for himself.''

Tsunade nodded. ''I'll send a message to Suna and Kirigakure to have them keep on the lookout for him,'' she said. ''The least we can do now is keeping the details about the incident from leaking out.''

If it got out, it would be a problem for her and Konoha. She didn't want anything that would threaten Konoha's state of power and image. Unless that man himself leaks the details about it, Konoha would keep quiet about it, but she would alert her Hunter-nins and her allies about such a man. Yes, she wouldn't mind ripping his limbs out of his body for ruining things for her.

''I will leave today to find out more about this threat. I am sure that my contacts can find something about him. He has to have come from somewhere,'' Jiraiya said confident that he would be able to find something about this new threat.

Tsunade nodded. ''I...'' she trailed off when Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke inside the office. Even the little things had to be taken notice on this day. First thing about his appearance was that he didn't use the usual method of coming into the office from his house. It was always a flash of yellow, nothing, gusts of wind or a swirl of flames. She had no seen him appear in a puff of smoke.

The second thing she noticed was that he still wasn't wearing the headband she'd left for him, it was his after all. Tsunade knew that he'd taken it with him when he left the hospital. Yugao had filled her in about it when she gave her report earlier in the morning. Of course, Tsunade wanted the leaf forehead protector to be firmly tied around his head, but she couldn't say it now.

The thought that she couldn't say anything about it now made her bit her lip.

Jiraiya studied Naruto's expression for a moment; nothing was out of place. He seemed to be perfectly fine. The Sannin didn't want to believe that it was the case. No, he believed that the blond was still human enough to feel anything, and he shouldn't be perfectly fine if he can still feel like normal humans do.

Naruto sat down on a chair in front of Tsunade's desk and released a sigh. ''I'm sorry I'm late.'' His right hand moved towards the back of his head and a nervous smile plastered across his face, ''I kind of fell asleep while I was in my bath,'' he sounded embarrassed about it.

This was something new to this new Naruto, and a bit nostalgic when remembering that the old Naruto was prone to do something stupid every now and then. Tsunade smiled at the thought; it was good to see that the old Naruto was still in there.

The blonde Hokage responded to him, ''its okay,'' she said.

Naruto nodded, ''It still would've been embarrassing if a shinobi like me ended up drowning in my own bath.''

When you look it at, it would've been embarrassing. The story would probably be titled, 'the son of Konoha's yellow flash strategically died after drowning inside his bathroom on the 11th of October morning!''

''It won't be much more of embarrassing to some us, it would be amusing more than anything,'' Tsunade responded with a small smile on her face.

''It is good that you've not lost your sense of humor,'' Jiraiya said smiling at his godson. ''How are you, Naruto?''

''I'm well, aside from a sleepless night, there aren't any problems,'' Naruto responded calmly.

Tsunade nodded, ''I'm glad that you were not seriously hurt last night. My wish was to give you the best birthday party, but that wasn't to be,'' the Godaime Hokage said a bit sadly. ''How are you dealing with all that?''

''Well,'' Naruto gave a simple response to the question.

Tsunade frowned at this kind of response from the blond. She eyed Jiraiya who shook his head slightly; it was best to leave for now and not force things. ''Okay,'' judging by her tone, it was clearly obvious to Naruto that it wasn't okay. There wasn't anything that she wanted to see him for other than seeing how he was doing. ''If you want, you can take the next two days off,'' she wasn't sure he would though. Naruto was always serious about work and worked like Shizune at most.

''Thank you,'' Naruto said smiling a bit at Tsunade. ''I'll take the offer.''

Naruto didn't feel like working. He had other things to do and he still had to meet Itachi today as well as the Wind Daimyo. He also needed to blow some steam.

Before anything could be said further, Danzo decided to make his presence in the office. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade narrowed their eyes at the war hawk knowing that whatever the man had come here to say had something to do with last night's incident. His presence was almost predictable to both Sannins. They'd expected that he would eventually crawl out of his burrow and come here.

''What can I do for you, Danzo?'' Just by her look, the message was clear; she didn't want him in her office.

Danzo looked at Naruto for a moment before looking back at Tsunade. ''I am merely interested in how someone unknown was able to infiltrate this village and still manage to cause damage under your nose.''

Tsunade didn't entertain the war hawk. ''If you have something to say about this ''Juubi'', you can say it. If not, you are excused, Danzo.'' the Godaime spoke in a low growl, her eyes still glued at the cripple.

''You call yourself protectors of Konoha, but you couldn't even do anything about it when an unknown shinobi threatened this village,'' his eyes narrowed at Naruto. ''If Hiruzen had given you to me when I requested that he do, I would've trained you to become Konoha's most valuable asset.''

''What is your point?'' Naruto asked in a perfectly neutral tone.

''You are weak for a Jinchuriki. With all that power inside of you, some unknown shinobi shouldn't have taken you out like that,'' the war hawk responded flatly.

Jiraiya decided to intervene before Naruto could respond. ''Why is it whenever trouble seems to strike, your Root are never there to help out?''

''It is because I was leaving you people to protect the village. However, it appears that trusting you with the safety of Konoha wasn't a wise decision,'' Danzo stated and turned his heels. ''If you can't do your job properly, then you should step aside and allow someone who can to do it,'' he left the office after those words.

''That bastard,'' Tsunade growled after the cripple left her office. ''I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with this,'' she said.

''Don't read too much into it Tsunade,'' Jiraiya lectured. ''We just need to keep an eye on him for now and insure that he doesn't do anything. If he does anything, we will put him down.''

He wasn't going to allow the war do what he pleased like his sensei. With what the war hawk has done behind the Hokage's back, the Third should've had him executed long ago. It wasn't a secret to both Jiraiya and Tsunade that Danzo wanted the mantle of Hokage. He's been after the seat since long ago when the Second Hokage favored Hiruzen before him.

Jiraiya wasn't going to allow a man like Danzo take Konoha under his command. He knew if something like that happened, many people would suffer and the first person Danzo would be after is Naruto. Jiraiya was willing to do anything, to insure that the war hawk doesn't touch his godson.

Sighing, Tsunade nodded. ''That man just gets to me,'' she said before looking at Naruto. ''There was nothing that I really wanted to discuss with you, Naruto. You are free to leave if you want.''

Naruto nodded. ''I may leave the village today,'' he said.

''Where will you head to? I'm also leaving today, perhaps we can head out together,'' Jiraiya offered smiling at the blond.

''I would rather be alone,'' Naruto said shaking his head slightly. ''But I'm going to the Wind capital. I may not see you until tomorrow, baa-chan,'' with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

''Have we been talking to a clone? And did he just call me 'baa-chan?''' Tsunade asked looking straight Jiraiya.

The toad Sage blinked before he too disappeared in a puff of smoke.

**Naruto's house, two hours later**

**Home training ground**

When you had students to look after, you were never given a chance to enjoy some meditation in your free time. The weather is usually calm at those times and most people would have completed their morning activities. This time was best for meditation, but the two chakra signatures he'd sensed weren't going to make it possible for him to continue with his meditation.

Naruto usually sent a clone to teach Konohamaru a few things around this time of the day since it was a good time to train; there was also nothing that beat a morning exercise to get you started for the day. But today he wanted all his chakra to himself and he had not thought that his students would be requesting training from him after everything. And so he had taken the time to meditate.

He knew that tomorrow would be a tiring day. He had many places to visit and many people to talk to. He would probably send a message to some, but it would be wonderful if he visited everyone. Well, he could not do everything by himself. But soon he would have something fixed that will help him send messages to those who are members of his organization. Being the president would mean he would have to forfeit some activities. He had yet to officially assume the position since the UNA was still in its early days. But everything would be handled soon after the first conference.

''Nii-san!'' Konohamaru called with Hanabi walking beside him. The girl looked stoic as always.

Naruto sighed as he stood up. Well, they were his children; he had a responsibility to them. He would not fail as long as he had agreed to train them. He knew of all the activities he had to do when he agreed to help them with their training. He would have to work around everything to ensure his time was balanced, ''I thought you would give me a break,'' he said, voicing some of his thoughts.

''You told me that a ninja must always be ready for anything, and when things are difficult, we have to adapt,'' Konohamaru stated, though he did not get the full meaning of these words. He spoke them because they seemed to be the right words to say at the moment.

Luckily, Hanabi understood those words. ''This means that regardless of what has happened, you must be ready. In this case, our training needs to go on despite the fact that you were not expecting us. You did tell us to expect the unexpected.''

Naruto smiled. ''You are applying those words at the wrong situation. I told you to expect the unexpected in a battlefield. This is not a battlefield.''

''Who said it was not?'' Hanabi asked taking a stance, while Konohamaru merely grinned.

''Ara, this is unexpected,'' Naruto said calmly, smiling. ''It is fine then. I was going to have you fight me together to assess both your teamwork abilities. I have so far defined what you need as individuals, but I have not found where you lack as a team.''

''But sensei, Konohamaru and I are not in the same team,'' Hanabi said, still in her taijutsu stance.

''I am aware of that,'' Naruto replied smoothly. ''But while you are training with me, you are a team, my team. And who knows, if you make me happy I might take both of you out on a good mission.'' That is if he does get time to take genins out on a mission. He was certainly not going to be less busy in the next months. More work will only be available for him and this will only make his schedule tight.

''Really?'' Konohamaru was happy about the sound of what Naruto had just said. He would be happy, no ecstatic to go on a mission with his Nii-san. And he knew for certain that his Nii-san would never let him do those damn D-rank missions.

Naruto's smile disappeared in response, ''Come at me, both of you. Do not hold back, keep your senses clear, and think. If you do not, you will end up in the hospital at the end of this session.''

Nothing further was said, as both Hanabi and Konohamaru dashed towards him. The former was coming on the left, and the latter on the right. Hanabi was moving faster than Konohamaru. The reason for that would be because the latter of the genin had weights on him that restricted his movements. He could not move on his full speed because of that, but Hanabi had nothing restraining her. She could use all her speed without much trouble.

Hanabi aimed higher while Konohamaru aimed lower with a sweeping kick. Being far more experienced and skilled than the two, Naruto moved back before both strikes could hit him. Hanabi was a lot quicker to recover from her miss than Konohamaru. She quickly rushed towards him. Her doujutsu was already activated; perhaps it was because he had said no holding back. The only way a Hyuuga can fight effectively is when his/she doujutsu is activated.

Naruto stood still looking straight at the genin as she made her way towards him, when she got close, he muttered something. ''Wind Breakthrough,'' small gusts of wind rushed towards the unsuspecting girl in blinding speeds. Although the jutsu was less powerful, he had increased its speed to make it more effective against the genin. There was no need of something strong when going against a mere genin. He did not want to end up hurting them seriously.

The jutsu caught the girl off-guard and set her flying backwards. Konohamaru quickly rushed behind her while she was being carried by the momentum. He got hold off her so that she would not land awkwardly and hurt herself while the match had just started. It would only put them in a disadvantage if the girl got hurt quickly.

Naruto acted quickly, as Konohamaru appeared behind Hanabi, he appeared behind the former. He did not let them off the hook. No, he kicked Konohamaru on the back, sending him back from where Hanabi was coming from. Both genins were sent flying as Konohamaru had gotten hold of Hanabi. Both crashed to the ground, but were able to quickly recover.

''That was not fair, Nii-san!'' Konohamaru yelled. ''You never use Ninjutsu when we fight. You always use taijutsu, and you should have warned us if you were going to use ninjutsu so that we can prepare.''

''The shinobi world is not fair; I have told you this many times, Konohamaru,'' Naruto said a bit sternly since he was repeating this. ''I told you to attack me with your full power, and I never did set any limits to myself. It is your problem that you think because last time I did not use, this time I will do the same. Do not think something so predictable about your opponents.'' He finished with a small grin. Perhaps this wasn't so bad after all. Seeing the kind of look on Konohamaru made him smile. It reminded him how Jiraiya used to cheat when he was training him.

''Expect the unexpected, and do the unexpected,'' Hanabi said, recalling what Naruto had told her. The same words were told Konohamaru some time ago. ''You did something we were not expecting you to do. If I did not understand, I would have also been complaining. But I understand. When you expect the unexpected, you prepare yourself for anything. You don't limit your opponent based on your knowledge of him or her.

Once you prepare yourself for everything, you are a lot more ready to battle than anyone. But the truth is that there are just some things you cannot prepare yourself for, some jutsus you cannot defend yourself against. However, because you are more prepared for surprises, you are most likely to recover quickly.''

Naruto nodded smiling a bit proudly at the Hyuuga. ''You understand it well, Hanabi. Even though you were the one who got hit, you did not act like Konohamaru.'' The blond stated calmly. '' As I said, the shinobi world is not fair. But because the world is not fair, you don't have to be unfair. I expect you to be shinobi of honor and respect,'' he paused for a moment. ''Konohamaru, what were you doing?''

''What?''

''He is referring to when I got hit by that wind jutsu,'' Hanabi cleared the air for Konohamaru. She was also sending the genin a slight glare.

''I was trying to save you,'' Konohamaru responded, returning the glare to his fellow genin.

''I did not need to be ''saved'', I could have recovered well without getting hurt.'' Hanabi retorted glaring at the idiot before her. Seriously? Did he really think she needed to be saved? She was even stronger than him for heaven's sake!

Konohamaru snorted, ''Yeh right.''

Naruto took a few steps towards the genins. ''Konohamaru, one of the principles of being in a team is that you must trust your teammate, in their abilities and with your life. You chose to try to ''save'' Hanabi because you did not trust her ability to recover without being hurt. You know her more than I do, but I know that she would have recovered. If you cannot trust your teammate's ability to handle themselves, you risk everything.'' This time, Naruto had no stern face; he was giving the genin a small smile.

''At least I had good intensions.'' Konohamaru defended himself.

Hanabi merely snorted in response.

''Most people have good intensions, but their choices end up screwing things. I have taught you to think carefully before you make a choice in a battlefield. Every choice is crucial, and a bad one could cost you your life,'' Naruto stated. ''Tell me, Konohamaru, what could stop me from attacking if you or Hanabi are looking at me?''

''Nothing...'' Konohamaru mumbled, quietly.

''Because of your good intensions, both of you ended up getting hit, and in a battle field, that could have been a huge blow,'' Naruto paused again. ''If you had sent your shadow clones to keep me busy while you recover Hanabi, we would not have been having this conversation.''

Hanabi nodded. ''If you had sent clones to fight sensei, I would have recovered quickly and we would have regrouped before attacking together. But in the end, we ended up being attacked together.''

''I got it; it won't happen again.'' Konohamaru didn't like it a bit that both Naruto and Hanabi were ganging up on him. Honestly, he felt betrayed by the latter.

''Good,'' Naruto said giving the boy a smile. ''Now, let us do this again. This time make your numbers count. Remember that fighting in a team gives you an advantage. Make the advantage count; make the fact that it is two minds against one count. Complement each other in your attacks. Always know where you teammate is, even when you are not looking at him or her. Try to predict your teammate's move so you could work something that will complement that. Move in sync with your teammate and you will understand each other well.''

Both genins nodded before rushing off to Naruto again.

A few minutes later

Naruto looked at his students with a small smile. ''You did better than I expected. Have you been practicing working together as a team?''

Konohamaru shook his head. ''We did this because we heard that your birthday did not turn out well. I heard that not even your party happened because someone attacked before it could start.''

''I did not want to do this, but Konohamaru insisted saying that it would make you smile if you were feeling down because your birthday party was ruined and you ended up spending the night in a hospital bed,'' Hanabi stated, in a tone filled with politeness, yet dripping with indifference.

''That was thoughtful of you,'' Naruto responded smiling. ''Your teamwork is good, but there has to be much improvement on both of you. We will fix that as time moves on.''

''Is it over for today, or will there be something else, should we return later?'' Hanabi questioned. If there was nothing else to do, she would rather go home and train some more. She would not be satisfied until she is finally able to touch Naruto. So far, the blond never allowed her to touch him. She had come close, but she has never been able to land a hit and that did not dwell with her.

''We will do some light training,'' Naruto said as a clone puffed into existence, something which Hanabi noted.

''I was told that to be able to do a jutsu without weaving hand signs, you had to be a master of that certain jutsu. The first time I saw you use the shadow clone jutsu, you used a single hand sign, but now you did not. I do understand that one needs to understand a jutsu thoroughly to be able to use it effectively. But I know for a fact that knowing a jutsu thoroughly does not enable you to use it without hand signs or a single hand sign. You got to have the chakra control to do it,'' Hanabi paused for a moment. ''I know that you have large amounts of chakra. Nothing much can be hidden before my eyes. My question is; how good is your chakra control sensei?''

Naruto merely smiled, and said nothing about the question. ''Konohamaru, go with my clone and continue with your normal training.''

''Why do I have to be the one to be trained by a clone?'' Konohamaru mumbled to himself as he followed Naruto's clone from behind. The clone heard him, but chose not to comment.

''What will I be doing?''

''I will tell you when I come back,'' Naruto said before disappearing in a yellow flash. He came back after a minute or so. ''Your taijutsu is good; there is nothing I can do about it, especially since I am no Hyuuga. However, I did tell you that I will teach you to fight without your Byakugan. But for that to happen, I need to build your reflexes.''

Hanabi nodded.

''For the next few days, I will be throwing kunais at you, and you will have to dodge them, without your Byakugan. We will start here today since I don't have much time. But in the next days, we'll find a stream of water...'' Naruto held a number of kunais on both his hands. He threw one at Hanabi in such fast speed that Hanabi only felt it sliced through her cheek, leaving the girl frozen for a few seconds. ''I have been told that my accuracy is implacable, so you will have to be extra careful. But I will try hard to avoid cutting deep into your flesh.''

''I fail to understand how you categorize this light training,'' Hanabi stated bracing herself for the multiple cuts that were surely going to joyfully fill her skin. Perhaps Konohamaru was right about her new sensei...

**A few hours later, Wind Capital**

''Your Highness, I've come to claim my date,'' Naruto said in a respectful tone, knee on the floor, eyes straight at the Wind Daimyo - he was inside the woman's office within her palace.

Miyuki smiled at Naruto. ''That is something you don't see every day,'' she said a bit tiredly. Normally, she wouldn't have expected him to greet her like that. He always liked being formal, and the most he gave was a small smile. It wasn't that she didn't like the change; she preferred it this way. ''Please stand up and take a sit,'' she said.

Naruto did as instructed and sat down. ''How are you, Miyuki?'' the blond asked politely.

''I'm well,'' Miyuki responded quietly, she tilted her head a little. ''Are you stoned?''

She was happy that he was finally able to call her by her name as she'd told him to do so. The blond always called her as Daimyo-sama, and she didn't like him calling her like that. Perhaps in public she would prefer it if he called her in a respectful manner, but when it was just the two of them, she preferred it if he called by 'Miyuki'.

But his whole appearance seems to be a little off, which was making her curious.

Naruto chuckled dryly before he offered his response. ''Not at all,'' he said.

''Oh, I thought you may have taken something before you came here. You seem a little different,'' she said looking at him inventively, yet still managed to keep her smile glowing on her face.

Naruto shook his head. ''No,'' he said. ''This is just me. I'm still surprised that you are able to notice the little difference in me. I mean, I've not done anything that could be said to be out of character...''

''I've learned a lot about you since our fateful meeting and I may not be a shinobi, but my eyes are quite perceptive,'' Miyuki responded ever so smiling.

Naruto nodded before responding. ''Believe it or not, I was quite loud three years ago. My maturity has brought some stillness in everything I do. Often I am called ''boring'' by some of my peers because of my change.''

The first person to have said that he was boring was Ino. The Yamanaka girl was overly active, especially when she started opening her mouth. Since he no longer did things for fun, the blonde had the guts to tell him that he was no longer fun. He found it a little amusing since they used to say that he was annoying more than anything back then.

''It doesn't hurt to smile every now and then.''

Naruto didn't deny that. He was being told that more often these past days. ''So I've been told,'' he spoke his thoughts before pausing. He looked at the Daimyo carefully before speaking. ''You look tired,'' he said.

''I've been working without break since early morning,'' the tiredness rushed into her expression for an exhibition. ''My body is really tired, and I was thinking of retreating to my quarters to rest.''

Naruto nod, he wasn't expecting her to be in this state. Well, he could go somewhere else and kill time. Perhaps he could go to the Snow and rest up a little. Koyuki had some best places that could ease the tensions on his body and ease off some of his worries. ''I guess you won't be able to 'use' me like you wanted then.''

Miyuki shook her head. ''No, not at all,'' she said. ''Can you do something for me?''

Naruto nodded. ''Anything, as long as it is within my capabilities,'' he said. He wasn't going to say 'anything' when he didn't know what she may ask of him.

Miyuki took out three files from her left drawer and placed them on her desk, all were stacked with papers. ''I need these documents to be in Sunagakure. I only finished working on them earlier, and since you'd promised you'd come today, I thought you could act as my delivery boy.'' A rather sweet smile plastered across her face.

''I can do that, but I'd not planned on doing any work today. Nevertheless, if it is for the Daimyo then I will do it.''

''Good,'' Miyuki said handing the blond the files. ''You can spend some time with Gaara. While you do that, I can rest and then freshen up. When you return, you'll take me for that date you've come to claim...'' she finished with a wink.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, a bit nervously, ''you know, I'd not thought of taking you out for real. I was here to keep true to me word.''

''I will pretend I didn't hear any of that,'' Miyuki said standing up. ''Now be on your way...''

**Later that day**

''You are still here,'' Naruto said as Jiraiya entered his study. The Sannin stood, leaning at the door frame for a few seconds before he welcomed himself inside. Naruto had thought the Sannin would have left the village already by now.

Jiraiya nodded. ''I ended doing something for hime. After that, I decided to leave tomorrow in the morning since it is late anyway,'' the Sannin then took a seat in front of Naruto's desk. He narrowed his eyes at what Naruto was working on; fuinjutsu. The notes looked to be complex; he had never quite seen the work Naruto does with seals. So, he was curious.

The blond did not seem to take Jiraiya's curiosity seriously, or perhaps he was just oblivious to it. ''Leaving at this time has never bothered you before,'' Naruto stated. It wouldn't have been for the first time for the man to leave the village at this time should he had decided to leave. He had done it before, he could do it again.

The elder toad sage shrugged. ''I am not in much of a hurry. And besides, we have never really gotten some time to talk, just the two of us. You have been busy lately, and over the past three weeks, you were away from the village. You only returned recently.''

Naruto nodded. ''When you have something to achieve, you find the there is no time that you should waste. Time is essential in the shinobi world, as such I always try to make use of whatever time I have available.''

''I understand that; you don't have to teach me about it. I have been living longer than you have,'' Jiraiya responded. ''While I do agree with you, one cannot work continuously without rest. If you do that, it will only lead to failure on what you plan because at crucial times, your mind and body may fail you for the lack of rest.''

''I know that,'' Naruto said calmly. He had been trained well after all. ''I always make sure that I give myself enough rest. And I cannot say that I have not given myself much needed rest because the near month I spent in the Snow, it was more of relaxation than work.''

''Ho? So the princess treated you well, huh?'' Jiraiya said giving Naruto a lecherous grin. His mind was already working on a few scenarios that may have played down between Naruto and the princess.

''My visit there was worthwhile,'' Naruto stopped when he noted that he did not use the term pleasant he usually used when defining things that were pleasing to him. He decided not to indulge Jiraiya on what he was suggesting. What may have or may not have happened was not the man's business.

''Don't tell me that you let another one go,'' Jiraiya said with disappointment in his tone. He even shook his head for a few moments. When was his godson going to stop being impassive and get laid?

''I don't think like you, Jiraiya,'' Naruto stated. Surely, things would not be well for his dream if he thought like Jiraiya. ''I am not looking to get lucky each time I see a woman. I have far more important things to do than think about getting laid.''

Jiraiya snorted. ''Yeh right.''

''What did you want to talk about?'' Naruto asked getting to the point because he did not want to get into this kind of discussion with the Sannin. He was busy with his seals to be discussing this kind of things with the man. He was certainly not looking forward to any plans of settling at the moment.

''What are you working on?'' Jiraiya asked narrowing his eyes at the scroll in front of the blond.

''I am working on a space/time jutsu that is similar to the Hiraishin. I am designing this one for long distance teleportation. The distance that needs to be covered when travelling from place to place takes a lot of time and energy,'' Naruto paused for a moment, thinking of something. ''No, scratch that. It will be different from the Hiraishin. It will be set like portals that I will create in selected locations.''

Jiraiya nodded. ''If you need any help, tell me and I will help you.''

''I sometimes forget that you are a seal master. Well it should happen when you don't usually use your skills when creating new seals,'' Naruto said.

Jiraiya shrugged. ''I use my other skills more often that not, and fuinjutsu is not usually practiced this days. It seems like people have forgotten about it.''

Naruto nodded. ''Well, most shinobi today prefer to use ninjutsu than fuinjutsu. They think that fuinjutsu is useless, but that is not the complete truth. Fuinjutsu is dangerous, and lethal as ninjutsu. Today's generation does not see this. Who wants to be stuck drawing complicated seal formulas when you can simply have fun?''

''Well at least you are the exemption,'' Jiraiya said giving Naruto a grin. ''Have you thought of how you are going to intercept false rumors about the United Nations? Great things can be ruined by simple words someone can say. I have been trying to suppress some rumors and those looking to take advantage of the situation, but sooner rather than later, you will have to look for a permanent solution.''

''I am already aware that this is happening,'' Naruto said, surprising Jiraiya because he had yet to tell the blond about this. ''Don't be too surprised, godfather, you don't actually expect me to remain clueless when running something as big as the United Nations Alliance, do you?''

''I don't expect you to be oblivious, but I am surprised nonetheless, that you were able to get this information quickly. I had thought that you would only hear it from me,'' Jiraiya responded calmly, getting over his surprise.

''I also have connections,'' Naruto revealed. ''I have only acquired them recently though, but they get the job done, and so far have only made me happy that I have gotten such connections.''

Jiraiya was not going to ask who the contact was, but he could give the boy an advice, ''Be careful with who you associate yourself with, Naruto. Some people can work with you peacefully, but when things get a little hard, they are quick to betray you. While others will work with just so they can stab you in the back at the end of the road. You should be careful with who you work with and who you associate yourself with. Some people don't need much to ruin you.''

Naruto nodded. ''I have been told that, but thank you for the word of advice,'' the blond stated. ''However, I was very careful with who I work with in the United Nations Alliance. I made sure to get people who can be trusted. But you can never to too sure about anything in the shinobi world. Nevertheless, I am positive that I made the right choice with whom I will be working with.''

''If you had still been your younger self, I would have been worried. You were a bit dim those days and could possibly house a murderer without knowing much about it,'' Jiraiya stated carefully, so not to insult the blond. But Naruto took no offence in the words.

''I would not be too sure about that,'' Naruto said smiling slightly. He may have been somewhat dim and oblivious to certain things, but he had always been a good charge of character. His troubled childhood had forced him to study people's behavior, and he had done so for his own good.

''Huh?''

''When you are the pariah of Konoha, you have to learn to read people. My life was not that easy when growing up, I had to be always on guard. When people always glared at you and called you a demon, you could never be too safe. When I learned that the villagers hated me, I always tried to distinguish between those who liked me and those who pretended to like me,'' Naruto explained smoothly. His childhood was not easy, but it was something that made him who he was today, with the help of Itachi, of course.

Jiraiya nodded, a bit sadly. If he had been there, Naruto would not have faced any of that. But things do happen. Naruto had said it himself, the most important thing was not that you screwed up, but it was that you acknowledge that you have indeed screwed up and try to change things for the better. Wallowing in self pity was not going to help anyone.

''At least there was some good that came from everything,'' Jiraiya said a bit bitterly than he had intended. But Naruto said nothing about it.

''It is always good to look on the bright side of things,'' Naruto stated in response. But that did not mean that one would have to completely forget the not so bright side of things. No, all things had to be considered. With all that, one could be able to made decisions that would do benefit than harm.

Jiraiya nodded. ''How about you tell me the structure of the UNA? I have yet to be told much about it.''

''That will be of another day,'' Naruto responded calmly. ''But I will nominate you for a position when we hold you our first conference next month. I will not say much about the conference, but things will become much more clear after the conference.''

''Have you started the preparations?''

''Don't worry about it. Everything will be sorted out, I would not want to ruin things for myself, now would I?''

''I guess not,'' Jiraiya said, standing. ''I will see you when I return. Don't forget to contact me when you need help. I will always be available to help you out.''

Naruto nodded before folding his scrolls. ''I'm also running out of chakra...''

''Huh?'' Jiraiya blinked and then sighed. ''You are a clone...'' he said.

Naruto nodded. ''The boss hasn't returned from the Wind Capital.'' The clone said.

Jiraiya shook his head before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Things with Jiraiya were improving, little by little. If things continued like this, they would return to have a close relationship like the one they had when the Sannin was training him before the finals of the chunin exams. That had been before he knew the Sannin was his godfather and had kept a secret from him. But things were progressing steadily. Naruto knew that his godfather was not a bad person. He was a good man who was really trying hard to make up for lost time.

It would be hypocritical for him to preach peace and that people can actually change when he can't move on and forgive other people. In a peaceful world he wished for, people forgave each other. They gave each other second chance. People were given opportunities to change.

**Meanwhile, Uzu**

It was probably the first time Miyuki had seen the sun set above the endless water of the sea. The water itself gave a nice view from where she sat down - she was settled on top of a cliff within Uzushiogakure. Her background showed an image of greens that glowed with all the riches the land offered to them. In front of the cliff, there were endless waters of the sea that surrounded the island crashed into it, wave after wave.

The scenery was quite beautiful and smell was just the beauty of nature. There were no chemicals mixed within the air she breathed. She breathed the pure breath of nature and it made her body calm, and the breath washed the insides of her body like a magical touch. Just breathing in and out seemed to be this joyful activity that she couldn't stop doing.

Miyuki hadn't thought that Naruto would actually take her to such a place but she was glad that he did. When she requested that he come on this day, she'd not really thought of going on a date with him; she'd only thought of spending some peaceful time with him. This was good nonetheless. She preferred it from anything else.

This was also nice, it beat going to any restaurant...

''Are there other places like this around the island?''

Naruto nodded, looking ahead the water that was colored with color alike that of the setting sun. ''But this one gives the better view of the sea, and the air around here is quite relaxing.'' Normally, he used this place to relax himself if he was within the island. It was also easy to gathered natural energy within this place.

Miyuki nodded, ''It is quite beautiful, when you said you were taking me somewhere, I didn't think you were taking me at such a place,'' she smiled at the blond was sitting down on her right side.

Naruto smiled, looking back at her. ''Well, since it was on short notice, I just decided to pick this place. It relaxes me the most and has certain amount of peace within it.''

''That I can't disagree with that,'' the Daimyo paused for a moment, ''are you okay?''

Naruto's smiled twitched a little but it didn't falter. ''Yeh,'' he said. ''I just have a lot in my mind.''

''Well, we have time, you can talk to me. I may not know much about the shinobi world than you do, but I'm sure between the two of us we can get somewhere,'' the green haired Daimyo offered with a warm smile.

Naruto was quite for a few moments. He didn't have a problem with her and his mask was easily slipping off its place already. Well, it couldn't be helped. ''I've always been lonely my whole life, even though I could be smiling and laughing during day, at night I would be alone, bundled in the corner of my cold apartment. Even though I could smile, deep inside of me, I was lonely. I guess you can say that I was never really happy.''

Miyuki's smile slipped for a moment. Naruto's tone was something new; he mostly had a neutral tone or a blank one. However, this one was a bit sad, and it brought evidence of his loneliness.

''I can only guess that it wasn't easy. But I believe that in order to be happy, you have to make choices that will lead you to happiness. Everyone has a choice, and everyone can create their own happiness,'' Miyuki stated warmly. ''How about it, are you still lonely?''

Naruto smiled sadly and looked at the heavens, ''I think I am,'' he said. ''I may have people I trust and can call family, but in the end of the day, I still go home alone. Perhaps I deal with this by burying myself into my work.''

''Loneliness is a rather difficult disease to cue, especially when you've been suffering from it for a long time. I know a cue nonetheless,'' Miyuki flashed Naruto a bright smile. ''Love!''

''Love?''

Miyuki nodded. ''Have you ever tried falling in love?'' She didn't think that was likely though. Naruto seemed to put his work above his happiness and that was a problem with him that she'd noticed.

Naruto shook his head. ''I was 'madly' in love with a girl named Sakura when I was still a genin. I loved her with all my heart and seeing her smile brought so much warmth inside of my heart. However, over the past three years, I stopped thinking about her and love.''

''Did you ever form a relationship with her?''

''No, the love was one-sided. Each time I tried asking her out, I was always rejected in the most painful way. Perhaps I decided that chasing after her wasn't going to do me any good since there was someone else she loved,'' Naruto responded quietly. ''After that, I've never really focused on love. I've been focused on my work and goals.''

Miyuki nodded silently before responding. ''Are you perhaps afraid of being rejected again?''

Naruto became thoughtful for a few moments before responding. ''That may be the case.'' He said. ''However, a recent experience has taught me something valuable; you never know what will happen tomorrow or in the next minute. If you wait for tomorrow to find happiness, tomorrow might never come.''

He was referring to his ruined birthday party. He'd realized that a part of him really wanted to enjoy himself on his birthday for the first time in his life with the people he called friends and family. But that never got to happen and it saddened him, a little.

''I couldn't have said it any better,'' Miyuki never lost her smile. ''Closing your heart will not solve anything. It will only bank the loneliness inside of you and you can never be truly happy with your life. Besides, isn't it that you desire peace? Peace is happiness, how can you find peace with a frown on your face?''

''Without a sense of happiness inside of my heart, I'm likely to lose all my cares for everyone. The kind of thought that I'm not happy and others shouldn't be is most likely to arouse. I've also been told that without a sense of happiness in the kind of journey I'm about to take, I'm most likely to lose my ways and fail,'' Naruto responded.

Miyuki nodded. ''Whoever told you that was right,'' she said. ''Happiness brings about a sense of peace. If you only focus on your dreams, and forget about happiness, you'll only end being miserable and worst of all, you'll fail to reach your dreams.''

''I get that,'' Naruto sighed. ''How about you? Any luck in love?''

Miyuki merely smiled. ''That is my little secret...''

''Huh...'' Naruto gave the woman a look. ''That is not fair. Here I was pouring my heart to you...''

Miyuki chuckled lightly. The mock hurt look kind of looked good on him, the woman thought. ''I never said I was going to pour out my heart to you; I just said I would listen and perhaps we would get somewhere.''

"It isn't fair that I've to be the one to share," Naruto pouted a little. The feeling inside of him that was tingling inside of his gut was making him to that. Honestly, he wouldn't have pouted at any time of the day.

Miyuki merely smiled at him, "Shouldn't we leave before it gets cold?"

Naruto shook his head smiling, "My body is quite warm, and it can produce enough warmth for both of us," It was the truth. He guessed that it had something to do with the tailed-beast inside of him.

Miyuki looked at him for a moment to see if he was joking or not. She didn't want to know if he understood the implications of his words or not. "O-okay," she stammered, a little. "What do you want to know?"

End of chapter

**Although the incident in the last chapter may appear stupid, it has worked well in Danzo's favor. If you recall, before Juubi ruined the party for Naruto, he also went to see the war hawk. I also made so that it could contribute to Naruto's slight change of character.**

**I'd said that there won't be anything happening between Naruto and Miyuki, I'm afraid that I will have to take those words back. Something will develop, a bit steadily. I don't want to rush anything, and so far I'm building their friendship well enough for it to be a bit realistic. **

**I think this chapter was better from the recent chapters I've been posting, and hope it was worth the wait. I will try to update more often now since I'm left with one chapter in "Uchiha Naruto: the Sage"**

**That will be it from me…**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Miyuki smiled brightly as she entered a spare room she'd offered to Naruto for the night. He was still fast asleep, but she was already dressed for work. Nodding to herself, the Wind Daimyo became silent as an assassin and walked over to the right side of the bed; Naruto was facing this side.

She looked at his sleeping face for a few moments. He looked cute with his hair all messy and expression kind of peaceful. Smiling once more, Miyuki allowed her thoughts to wonder to the ends of the world as she continued to gaze upon the prince that was sleeping before her.

The smile on her face only grew as her thoughts became bold, and urges that she found hard to resist pushed her to do something she normally wouldn't. Honestly, she didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. Sure she had a few relationships before, but her father never allowed a boy into their house. No, he was very firm about this.

This in turn brought about this situation.

She wasn't in a romantic relationship with Naruto, but just seeing him sleeping like that made her happy. She wanted to see him sleeping like that more, perhaps even snuggle into bed with him.

The urge to run her hand over his cheek persisted and she finally gave in. But she never went far as Naruto's eyes snapped open and his right hand blurred towards her throat. Miyuki let out a shriek of shock at the action and everything else after that happened so fast she didn't see it.

She found herself pinned down on the floor with Naruto on top of her - he was sitting on her stomach - and a kunai pressed against her neck. She smiled nervously at him, her heart pounding a bit faster. Honestly, she was scared at this moment, ''G-good morning Naruto,'' she managed to speak despite the kunai pressed against her neck.

Naruto was finally able to recognize the soft voice and hide the Kunai. The first instinct of a shinobi was to act that way upon waking up on an unfamiliar bed. He processed everything that had happened last night whilst still on top of Miyuki. After everything became clear, he looked down at her apologetically.

''Sorry,'' he said. ''Shinobi instincts kicked in,'' he finished smiling sadly. That was not all of it though. He knew another reason that caused him to react in such a way.

''Its okay,'' Miyuki responded. Although his reaction shocked her, she shouldn't have tried to do what she wanted to do; she was invading his personal space after all.

Naruto shook his head. He'd seen the fear in her eyes, even if it was only a flash of it. He placed his right hand on her chest; her heart was beating a bit faster. ''I scared you,'' he said a bit sadly.

Miyuki didn't deny it; it wouldn't help matters if she did that. She'd lived long enough to know this. ''I was,'' she said. ''But it is alright now,'' she wasn't going to comment on the fact that he was close to groping her. The only thing that stopped her from hitting him was the fact that he didn't seem to be conscious of it.

Again, Naruto shook his head. He'd scared her. ''I'm sorry...''

Miyuki smiled sadly, ''Can you let go off me?'' she requested nicely.

Naruto then took notice of his right hand, and had the decency to look a bit sheepish despite the situation. He muttered an apology and got off the woman before he helped her stand up. After that, he settled on the edge of the bed and Miyuki did the same on his left.

''Do you normally react like that when someone tries to wake you up in the morning?'' She wasn't trying to wake him up, but that will do. It would be a bit embarrassing if she admitted what she wanted to do. So, that would remain her little secret for now.

Naruto shook his head, ''no,'' he said. ''The territory is unfamiliar and I'd yet to recollect my memories of last night that could explain why I am here. Being a shinobi, my first instinct is to pounce...''

''Why? Do all shinobi act that way?'' she liked to believe that there was more to the story than just that he was a shinobi. She could understand that, but there had to be more.

''I wouldn't know,'' Naruto responded quietly.

He refused to share any of his thoughts to her. He was a troubled child who had a lot of emotional problems to deal with; he'd thought he'd dealt with it all when he was with Itachi. But that doesn't appear to be the case. After all the soul searching he'd done and to think that he still held such fears inside of him. It was pathetic and he could feel the Bijuu inside of him offering a nod of agreement.

Miyuki nodded, she wasn't going to force things. ''You said the territory was unfamiliar, now that it is familiar, will you smile at me next time?''

Naruto turned to face her with a furrowed brow. ''There is going to be a next time?''

Miyuki folded her hands across her bust, and looked away so that she didn't have to stare at his naked chest. ''Of course. I thought you liked my company? Is it perhaps you've been false leading me to offer you a place to sleep when you are troubled just so you can escape the following day and never come back?''

Naruto shook his head, mustering a smile. ''No, it isn't anything like that and I do enjoy your company. It is quite refreshing.''

''Then is there a reason there shouldn't be a next time?''

Naruto became thoughtful for a few moments before shrugging, ''I guess not,'' he said.

''Good,'' the Wind Daimyo stood up from the bed. ''Go wash yourself and meet me at the kitchen for breakfast,'' she said without even looking at him. She slowly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Once closed, she leaned against it, and released a breath of relief. The woman shook her head before heading towards the kitchen.

Few minutes later

The silence was a little bit uncomfortable for Miyuki, but Naruto didn't seem to be too concerned about it. He was just eating his breakfast comfortably like the air around them wasn't a bit tense. This actually forced the Daimyo to stop eating and just stare at the blond.

''You're not making things easy,'' Naruto finally said, feeling the stare of the woman across the table. ''Do you have something in mind?''

Miyuki shook her head, clearing it of all the blurry thoughts, ''So, after this, you are gone to leave...''

Naruto nodded. He did note that her tone carried some hint of sadness, he just didn't comment on it. Given his current state of mind, indulging in it wasn't going to do him anything good. Sure Miyuki was a wonderful woman, and he liked her presence, but there was nothing going on between them that would make him feel obligated to question her about her sadness.

''When are you going to return?''

''I don't know,'' Naruto responded, looking deep into her eyes. ''I haven't been doing much of my work lately, so I'm gone be busy in the next weeks. I also have things to organize for the UN.''

''Oh...''

''You still have that kunai I gave you, yes?'' Miyuki nodded. ''Use it like I told you if you need to speak to me. If I'm not bind by any chains, I will come to you in a flash if you call.''

**A week later**

''Itachi,'' Naruto said gaining the attention of the Uchiha. ''I am afraid that you will have to keep busy until things can settle down. I have received a report informing me about some of the activities of Iwagakure. I have already spoken with Konan about it. It is not only that, but we will have to deal with more work once the United Nations officially begins.''

''I know,'' Itachi responded calmly. He knew that they would be very busy next month. They were already doing much work now, he was thankful that he had Kisame helping him in some matters, especially when it came to suppressing threats to the UNA.

''I was referring to your body, do you think you can hold out for a few more years? I do not wish for your life to end before the United Nations Alliance starts to bring peace in this cruel world,'' Naruto said looking straight at Itachi. The Uchiha looked at him without saying a word for a few moments before he finally spoke.

''I will manage. The new drugs I have been taking have been helping. My eye sight is what troubles me though. If I continue fighting, I may be blind in the next year or two,'' Itachi revealed, he held no regrets over his Mangekyou Sharingan. However, he was lying to Naruto. The recent battles he'd been fighting have ruined his eye sight for the worst and his sickness was progressing far faster than he'd expected. He was at most ''blind'' already. Only his years of experience kept him from falling in battle.

His eye sight was already bad three years ago, and over the past years he's been training Naruto, he'd been using his Sharingan continuously. The action didn't do him any favors; it only continued killing his already bad eye sight. Considering that he was forced to fight some strong shinobi recently, it wasn't that much of a surprise that he could barely see.

Naruto nodded. ''It would be troubling if you became blind. But you will have to ''heal'' yourself the way other Uchihas do to avoid going blind. Your younger brother can wait. Peace matters much more,'' he paused for a moment. ''I will work on your condition. I may be forced to take some measures that I would not do. But for everything go smoothly, you may to play that hand.''

Itachi was silent for a few moments. ''That will be after things become worse. Though, I would approve if things did not turn into that way.'' things were already worse, and he may be left with one or two battles. However, he wasn't going to tell that to Naruto, it would only make him worry.

''I understand how you feel about this. But you should know that nothing can be kept hidden forever. You may think that no one will find out, but this is the shinobi world, you never know who is watching. No matter how hard you think you have hidden things, they will come out. I believe it is better for secrets to come out while you are alive to do damage control rather than having them come out while you are dead,'' Naruto reasoned, calmly.

''I guess you are right,'' Itachi conceded. ''But let us leave it as it is for now.''

Naruto nodded. ''How goes removing Gaara's problem?'' he had assured the Kazekage he would help him out to deal with the problem. But he could not get involved with things in public. He had allowed Itachi to negotiate things for him after collecting enough bounty.

''It is well. Kaneki-san will be leaving Sunagakure to the land of Grass. But he will leave his businesses there, he has promised never to bother Gaara again and assured me that he will be a good civilian,'' Itachi responded, revealing his successful mission. It had not been that difficult. It would have proved a bit tricky if he had gone with Kisame, but things required that he do it silently without drawing out weapons.

''Good,'' Naruto said. ''Then I shall give Gaara the good news. How long do you think you can work in the shadows without anyone knowing that you are connected to the United Nations Alliance as well as your identity?''

''I can keep everything hidden for some time. As long as I don't do anything rash, I will be able to keep my identity without anyone finding about it. It can only be revealed if one of us talks about it,'' the former member of the Akatsuki responded calmly.

Again, Naruto nodded in acceptance of Itachi's response. ''I don't like this, but we may have to face Juubi soon. Perhaps after the UNA conference, I may have already gathered some valuable information at that time.''

''It is better we deal with the problem now before anything becomes deep. Allowing a small problem to rise up may come back to haunt you in the near future,'' Itachi stated. He believed that a problem was better solved before it got too big. The smaller it was, the easier it was to manage and remove. But when it was much bigger, it caused much trouble and would not be easy to deal with.

''I agree,'' Naruto said with a nod. ''However, I will not stop anything. Everything will continue while we deal with the threat. I have yet to discover what his goal is but I will find out soon enough.''

Itachi nodded. He watched Naruto closely - the blond was standing a few feet away from. The posture gave away nothing about the blonds' thoughts. It was just the same as his tone and expression. He had trained him well. Still, Naruto was already good with masking his emotions. The blond could pull off masks that no one could realize they were just masks. He was that good when it came to masks. But he had known the blond more than enough to know when he had pulled off one of his masks.

''I will speak to you in a few days. I have to teleport around nations to drop the invitations to the conference next month. There is little time to organize things, but I will make it work.'' His eyes looked straight into Itachi's. He noticed that the Uchiha was watching him, carefully. But he would not give anything away because the man was looking straight at him. It would unnerve him, but he would continue as he'd been. He's been allowing his mask to drop often these past days.

''You will have to find a better solution to send invitations to the nations who are members of the United Nations Alliance. You can't always invite them in person - that takes much more time and energy. And time will be something that you will not have to waste in the next months,'' Itachi stated, calmly. If Naruto was going to do this, he would have to make sure that he has proper channels to send messages to his people rather than having to drop off the messages himself.

''I have been thinking about that over the past days. It is something that Koyuki brought up while I was talking to her. I've been making preparations on how to proceed with this. I know that I can't always be available to deliver invitations, and there should be people who work exactly for that. Every organisation has to have its own messengers, once the United Nations officially starts to operate, I will not have time to play messenger.''

Itachi did notice that Koyuki's name was said differently from the rest of his speech. He was sure that Naruto had not noticed it, and he was certain that someone else would not have noticed it. But he knew Naruto too well. ''How was your stay in the Snow?'' Itachi watched Naruto like a predator, trying to discern any reaction that might give him anything, but he got nothing. There was not even a twitch of the blonds' muscles.

''Good; I managed to get all business done and rest a little,'' it was a response that gave away nothing on what Itachi was looking. Naruto had noticed that the Uchiha had another reason to question him about Snow; he was just not going to say anything because he did not feel like it, and if Itachi wanted to know something, he knew that all he had to do was ask. ''The pressure will increase in the next weeks, but I will have I will to adapt.''

'A change of subject?' Well, they had been talking about his matter before he decided to question about Snow.

''Things are moving a little faster than you had thought. A few months ago, you were not expecting things to turn out this way at this time. And even when you went back to Konoha after your training, you were not expecting this phase to complete this quick...'' Itachi realized, while looking straight at Naruto.

''It is nothing to worry about; I will just have to adapt to the workload and carry the weight with my shoulders,'' Naruto paused for a moment gathering his thoughts. He looked at the light blue heavens. There was not a single cloud in the sky, perhaps he could finish with the invitations before evening. He did know that some of the persons will have him sit with them to enjoy a conversation.

''You adapt well to different situations,'' Itachi said, while still watching the blond carefully. He was a lot different from when he had come here while the burden of killing was weighing him down. He had never asked the blond how he had ended up solving the matter. But he was glad that it had been resolved, nonetheless. It would not be good if Naruto ran the UNA with some burdens.

''My life has me forced to live with so many things troubling me. I have had to live with a smile on my face while everyone was glaring at me, it was not easy, but after more loneliness and pain I was able to get myself to handle burdens quite well,'' Naruto explained, something that Itachi already knew.

''But this is a bit different. It is not pain and loneliness that you will have to face,'' Itachi said, narrowing his eyes closer towards the blond, to see his reaction about the fact that they were talking about his childhood. But Naruto gave away nothing; however, he did know that the blond had handled all his emotions in a positive way, so he had nothing to worry about.

''I know,'' Naruto admitted. ''But I will handle it. I have people closer to me to share my burdens with me.''

A small smile flicked through Itachi's face, for a second, but Naruto caught it. ''I am glad that you understand that you cannot always handle everything by yourself. I once thought so too, but ultimately, it leads to failure.''

''Failure in this case is not acceptable, no, failure is the death of me,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''After next month, there will no longer be vacancies in positions and duties within the United Nations Alliance. I will make that most positions are filled during the conference and the rest after that. Once that is complete, I will not have to worry about everything, other people will have to worry about it.''

''Do we have to worry about security?'' While he knew that Uzushiogakure was the safest place, even safer than Konoha, he knew that nothing everything was certain in the shinobi world. It would not be a bad thing to take some precautions, and people were always looking for opportunities to betray others.

''No, there should be no problem with external security. I have set up a barrier around the place that blocks anyone from teleporting within. The barrier contains my DNA, so it allows me to pass through without much trouble. While inside the island, I can use a jutsu that Konan taught me. She said it was a jutsu Nagato used to keep everything in check within Amegakure. With the jutsu I can be aware of everything that happens within the island','' Naruto explained lightly.

Itachi nodded. ''I expected nothing less.''

''How goes the recruiting?''

''Steadily. Kisame is handling as we speak,'' Itachi responded calmly

Naruto nodded with a small smile on his face. ''I will take my leave. I have not set up appointments with any of the individuals I have to meet up with today. But it should not be too much of a hustle given my personal and professional relationship with them,'' he paused for a moment and took a few steps towards Itachi until he was closer to the Uchiha. It was not that he realized that he had been speaking a bit far away from the Uchiha. ''You should rest your eyes, for now. You have been working hard, you should get some rest. Next month will be one hell of a month, I will need you.'' And then he was gone.

Itachi shook his head. ''He tells me rest, yet he works a lot harder than I do.''

But it didn't really matter if he rested; his eye sight was already bad.

**Unknown Location**

''Kukukuku kukukuku, it seems that my little pet has taken an interest in Naruto-kun. I do think this will become an obsession,'' Orochimaru said reading the report Kabuto had given him. It was a wonder how the man hailed as a once in a generation genius could so point out other people's obsessions while he could not see that he too had been very much obsessed with the Sharingan that he did not look at anything else.

Kabuto would have pointed that out, but he chose keep his thoughts to himself. ''Why has he taken such an interest in Naruto?''

''Given that his first battle was against the Jinchuriki, and the fact that Naruto holds the strongest of the tailed beasts, my pet also has the combined chakra of all nine tailed beasts. I can only guess that he sees an opponent in Naruto, but he does not sound to keen to show his true power. No one even knows if he can control the power of the Kyuubi. There is not to mention what Naruto has been up to. With everything I filled the pet with, he should be quick to oppose Naruto-kun's plans.'' Orochimaru explained lightly. He did not care too much about this, he could allow the children to play, but he would never allow them to change the world. No, the world was for him to change.

''So he will keep messing with Naruto until he finally decides to reveal all his secrets, and then they will battle it out until one of them eventually dies. If it goes like that, it is going to be Madara and Hashirama again,'' Kabuto said, knowing some history between those two legendary shinobis. Most people did not bother to look into the past because it did not interest them, but he was interest in everything he found curious.

Orochimaru nodded. ''Still, I would not have thought that he would be brave enough to attack Konoha like that. Well, he is indeed powerful, and seems to fear nothing.''

''You did twist things to go that way. I would not have expected anything less from him. But it also appears that he is making a name for himself. Konoha will be hunting him down and place him in their bingo books,'' Kabuto stated, he had contacts within Konoha, so he knew most things that happened within the village. He had worked for ROOT before; infiltrating the village to gather information was not a task for him.

''That I have,'' Orochimaru nodded, grinning. ''I will just have to see how my pet does when going against Konoha. He will prove to be most useful to me if he keeps going like this, he may remove all my enemies,'' the Snake Sannin stated, never losing his grin at the thought of having his enemies removed for him by his pet, and he could then clean the mess afterwards.

''You are still intending to use him?'' Kabuto was surprised. The last encounter with the pet had not gone so well. Orochimaru was almost killed while he was trying to control the pet, and how was he going to try to do it again if it failed the last time?

''Yes, I cannot all my efforts in creating that thing be in vain. I will have to reap from my efforts,'' Orochimaru stated revealing an even wider green. ''It also seems that Naruto-kun has also been busy.''

''Indeed he has. It is quite smart for him to create something like this. But if this thing does succeed, the world will not be very safe for us,'' Kabuto said, noting that it was not a good thing for the United Nations Alliance to go ahead. They sought to eliminate all that was evil, and they were categorized along those lines. It was not that he feared anything, no, with Orochimaru kicking well; there was nothing to be afraid off.

''It will never succeed. Not in this world.''

**Sunagakure**

The office always has a sense of peace flowing through the walls, even the atmosphere was welcoming. But Naruto knew that not everyone felt that way. People had different perceptions, but everyone who had a good perception and was not screwed up in their way of thinking, could see what he saw and feel what he felt. Perhaps some may feel threatened because of the still lingering fear of the Kazekage. People could not be forced to change, he knew that.

He looked at the Kazekage; nothing had changed with him, not that he had expected any change from his fellow Jinchuriki. The posture was in its always unreadable form and the expression seemed impassive as always. It also seemed that a smile had never graced the lips of the man. But that was not the truth. Gaara could smile; he just reserved his smiles for special moments.

''I would have thought that you would be taking some time off after recent events,'' Gaara said, looking straight at Naruto. Of course, Tsunade had informed every one of her allies of what had happened to the village so that they could be on lookout for the man who had ruined Naruto's birthday. Since he had gotten word that the blond had been put in the hospital because of the attack, he had thought that the blond would be resting.

''There is much work to do,'' Naruto responded, he took a seat; he had been standing still since he arrived in the office. ''I was not badly injured anyway, and I am not unlike most people. Kyuubi's chakra always takes care of any wound I suffer. The only problem is that it cannot deal with is mental stress.''

Gaara nodded. ''But overusing those abilities will only put your body under a lot of stress. You know that regardless of how much you heal; there will always be a limit to how much the body can take. You have said it yourself; the chakra does not solve mental problems. And that is my worry.''

Naruto shrugged, ''I know that. I am not some careless child,'' he paused for a moment. ''I do give my mind the rest that is required. Meditation also helps to relax everything within the body, I have become adept to it since the toads introduced it to me.''

''I was not suggesting that you are a careless child, I was merely making a statement.''

Naruto became silent for a few moments. Well, he could give this round to Gaara. And so he changed the subject. ''Shall we get to business then?''

Gaara nodded, looking at Naruto carefully. He noticed that the blond conceded his point, and chose to focus on the serious matters. But it was not that the matter he was talking about was not serious. It was serious; it could be the difference between success and failure. He was just glad that the blond did not appear to be arrogant enough to shrug off any advice he was given. You cannot always know everything within the world. There were bound to be things that will miss you.

''What news have you brought me, then?'' Gaara asked, never leaving the fixed gaze on Naruto. He could only guess that the blond had come here to bring him some news, it was mostly the case. But then again, this could be different since he could not quite read everything Naruto did.

''Your problem with the rich man has been solved. I was able to raise enough funds to pay him off and had him convinced to stay away from Sunagakure without taking his businesses with him,'' Naruto revealed, handing Gaara a file with a few pages. ''He should come to you in the next few days.''

Gaara was quite for a few moments, as he looked at the file before looking back at Naruto. ''How did you manage to get the money?'' He asked a curious question. He liked to think that his status was higher than Naruto's. This will change, though. But he was a Kage and Naruto was none of that. Yet, he was able to raise millions of Ryo that he could not find.

''I am one who seeks peace and will soon be heading the largest organisation in the Elemental Nations; do you not think that I have connections around the nations?'' It was not answering the question, but this was the wise way to avoid the question.

''I know all that,'' Gaara responded calmly. ''But that does not answer my question,'' of course he was not going to let it go so easily. This matter concerned Sunagakure greatly and he had sworn to protect this village. He would not do anything that could lead his people to pain if he knew of it. He may trust Naruto, but that did not mean he would not ask questions about some matters.

Naruto sighed realizing that he would have to answer the question. Well, a stronger bond and friendship was built in honesty. ''Bounty, someone was collecting them for me. I got some of the money from my inheritance and some from the UNA.'' While he was able to make small withdrawals, he could not make larger withdrawals for the money in Uzushiogakure. But he was getting close to fixing the seal.

''…Your inheritance?'' He could understand bounty. Villages were willing to pay a lot of money for their wanted criminals. But dealing with such was dangerous and required much time and focus. But it had not been that long for Naruto to collect the millions that his problem wanted. The United Nations Alliance had to have money. Who could start such an organisation without the funds to run it?

''My parents left me some funds. I would not call it a large sum of money, but it was a sizeable amount of money that I had no use for. I thought it would be best if I made use for it on something useful,'' Naruto said, calmly. He watched Gaara's reaction to his response with a critical eye. But he got little from the Kage.

''How much did you end up paying?'' Gaara asked, no, he sort of demanded in a calm tone. It was obvious to Naruto that the Kazekage was very curious about his answer. And would not accept any answer other than the truth. It was not that Naruto had planned to lie to Gaara. He would not have just told the Jinchuriki how much he had paid.

''Close to 400 million Ryo,'' Naruto responded after a few moments. The combined heads of Sasori and Deidara had fetched about 125 million Ryo. Despite the fact that Sasori belonged to Suna, Itachi had not received the bounty from the village. He went elsewhere. It was also not like he was not going to get his money back. He would get his money back, all of it, and soon.

''That much...'' He did not have such money. Only rich people had that sort of money. And Daimyos could have that kind of money; they were the government after all. But he did not. Sunagakure might have that money, but he did not have it. ''How am I going to pay you back?''

Naruto merely smiled. ''Don't worry about it. I am not giving away as charity; we can just say it was a mission from the United Nations Alliance. One of my missions is to help, save and rescue after all.''

Gaara shook his head. ''No, 400 mil Ryo is a lot of money my friend. I will one day pay you back, if I can't get the money, I will offer you something else,'' the Kazekage said in a promising tone. Surely, he could not just say thank you and leave it like that. He would have to thank the blond in some ways.

It was nothing unexpected. Well, he had tried. But from the look and tone of Gaara, told him that convincing him otherwise was not going to happen. He had expected something like this, but he did not rule out trying to persuade the Kage to think otherwise. He tried, and failed. ''I wonder why people can't just take help without feeling that they also need to give out something in return.''

''That is just our nature as humans. Giving back makes us feel good and that makes us even things. No one wants to feel like they owe someone something,'' Gaara responded. Naruto had not realized that he had said those words aloud. But he responded nonetheless.

''Can't a friend do something good for a friend?''

''He can,'' Gaara said. ''But it depends on the deed done. There are just some things you cannot simply just take. In this case, I can't have you using 400 million Ryo for my cause without paying you back. It is the right thing to do.''

Naruto was quite for a few moments before he nodded. ''I have also come here to give you this,'' he said handing Gaara an envelope.

''What is it?'' The Kazekage did not open the envelope he had been given. Since the blond was here, he figured he would explain everything to him.

''It is a letter of invitation to the first conference and official launch of the United Nations Alliance. It will be held in Uzushiogakure from the first till the second next month.''

''This is a little soon. There are less than 20 days before those dates,'' Gaara said, looking thoughtful.

''I know, but it is necessary for the United Nations to start operating fully. I could not find a better date than this. I have to start everything before the end of the year. I want it to be possible that everything I have planned to start operating by January.'' Naruto explained in a tone filled with nothing but determination in seeing his dream progress.

''I understand that. Are you inviting everyone?''

''I am inviting everyone who is a member of the United Nations. Other villages will just have to hear from rumors, and I assure you that no one who is uninvited will get into the conference hall,'' Naruto said, confidently. He did not want spectators in the meeting. He wanted people who will be taking part in everything that will be going on in the island.

''Do you think that everyone will get there in time?'' Gaara asked. Some will have their schedules to look after, and he doubted that some would leave their activities for the event. Uzushiogakure also required transportation on the sea. Ships were not fast enough in shinobi standards.

''I will teleport anyone who cannot make it in time. Once the event starts, the island will be in lockdown - no one will go in or out. This will mean that there will be no late arrivals, anyone who does not make it before the conference starts, will not get in. However, if I do manage to tune security details, I may change that,'' he said. But as it stood, he was to put the island in lockdown.

Gaara shook his head. ''You are going far with security.''

''I don't want anyone to ruin anything, and I want everyone to be safe.'' It would not do well for his conscious if people got hurt under his watch.

''Is there anything else?''

''Further details are inside the letter of invitation,'' Naruto said standing up from where he sat. ''I will return should there be any changes.'' And then he was gone.

Gaara sighed before speaking. ''Temari, you should not eavesdrop on other people's conversations,'' the Jinchuriki said, making his sister appear in the office. He knew she had been listening on as he talked with Naruto. He was also positive that the blond had also sensed but just ignored it.

''Sorry, I just couldn't help myself,'' Temari apologized, but Gaara just shrugged.

''Gather the council members for me.''

**Wind Capital**

Miyuki groaned as she looked through her budgets. It was becoming much of a trouble for her to keep up with all her work. She had thought that she could handle all the work she had requested. She was doing some of the work that her father did not even do. When it came to finances, she wanted to keep it tight. She did not want anyone to bleed her country dry because she was ignorant. Her father had her taught by the best teachers in the art of finances. She could track all the money that came into the Wind country.

It was best that she handle everything herself first before handing the task to someone. She wanted to audit the financial statements to ensure that no one in her council was stealing cash for his own personal uses. If she found that anyone was stealing, there would be hell to pay. She would make the man pay what he had stolen. If he could not pay back all the money, then he had to pay some of it. Of course, she would not make innocents suffer for their father's sins. She was not that kind of a person.

Perhaps her father would do that, especially when the man did not deal well with betrayal. Her father would not hesitate to order a massacre to the family of anyone who betrays him. He was ruthless, and somewhat greedy. He liked his money, and rarely gave it away. Despite all that, he was a good father. Even with all his faults, she could not have wished for a better father. He had raised her well, even when he had been disappointed that he did not get a boy to succeed him. He ensured that she was trained to succeed him.

''Maybe I should have delegated some of my work to my assistants while I deal with this,'' she muttered to herself. Controlling everything in finances called for a critical eye and complete focus. A single zero could ruin her whole report. She had to check everything to detail. The man that had been checking things for her father did sloppy work. She had to sort through his work before she could even start with her own.

There was a knock on her door that snapped her out of her thoughts. ''Come in,'' she said, leaning back to her chair. It was her house keeper. ''What is it, Yoshino-san?''

''You have a guest at home. I believe it is that young blond lad from Konoha,'' he had just suddenly appeared in the living room. She had been shocked because she did not see such things. ''He gave me quite a fright when he appeared.''

Young blond lad from Konoha? That had to be Naruto. There was no one else who was from Konoha who would just suddenly appear in her living quarters. She smiled, wondering why he would be here. She had not seen him in about a few days now. ''Have one of the guards bring him here,'' she ordered.

''Of course,'' Yoshino bowed as she turned around to leave. But before she could leave the office, Naruto entered. ''Did I not tell you to wait for me to return?''

''You did, but I decided that my schedule could not adhere to that,'' Naruto responded coolly. ''I don't mean to be rude, Yoshino-san.''

The woman merely shrugged and walked away from the office. Miyuki smiled at Naruto, who returned the smile. ''Lovely to see you again Naruto.''

''Likewise,'' Naruto responded taking a seat. He sighed as he sat down. Delivering invitations like this was really wearing him down. He had talked with most of the members by now. If he completes this one, he would be left with Koyuki, and Mei. He had already visited other small villages to deliver the message. Time was not moving slow either. He would end up sleeping late as it appeared.

''You look tired,'' Miyuki noted. The blond was not even trying to hide his tiredness. She felt a bit happy that he felt comfortable before her to do something like that. He mostly kept everything unreadable when around other people. But here he was not even hiding his state of mind.

''I have been talking and teleporting to different offices all day. And some people took much time to persuade, while some requested that I do some things for them. I have yet to rest nor eat anything since morning,'' the blond revealed in a bit worn out tone.

''Perhaps you should rest for now and I will treat you to dinner later,'' she suggested with a small smile.

''I am afraid I will have to pass that. I still have other two more people to see before the day ends,'' Naruto said, quietly. ''Perhaps I may come back the day after tomorrow,'' he had to rest tomorrow and see other things.

Miyuki nodded. ''Still, you should not work yourself to death. Work overload does not do anyone any good. It is not good, especially to your mental state.''

''I have been told something like that recently and not just by one person,'' Naruto said heaving a sigh. It was like everyone he went to was telling him the same thing. Tsunade and Jiraiya had told him the same thing. Was he really over working himself that hard? His body was certainly not complaining that much.

''It seems that you have people who care for you mental wellbeing,'' Miyuki responded. If she was not the only one to say so, it meant that the blond had other people who were concerned for him. She was speaking from experience; she had seen what overworking without rest does to the body. She had seen her father slumped in bed several times.

Naruto only nodded in response.

''Who else do you have to visit?''

''The Snow country Daimyo and the Mizukage,'' Naruto responded, watching the expression of Miyuki's face carefully. For a second her expression became blank before her cheery mask returning again.

''You are surrounded by women everywhere,'' she muttered.

''I have noticed,'' Naruto said. ''Well, anyway, take this,'' he handed her the same envelope he had been giving everyone else. ''I won't explain anything at the moment. Read it so you can be aware. When I return in a day or two, I will explain everything to you.''

''So, you are leaving?''

Naruto nodded. ''Stay safe Miyuki. I will visit you soon.'' The blond breathed out, before disappearing in a yellow flash.

''I need a boyfriend,'' Miyuki said after the blond had disappeared. Really, when she goes home after work, she was not going to find anyone waiting for her. She would sleep alone in her huge bed. Even though she would not admit it to anyone, she was feeling a bit lonely.

**Kirigakure**

''We have apprehended the culprit, Mei-sama,'' Ao reported to the Mizukage as he entered her office. He had been chasing a shinobi they had caught trying to infiltrate the village. He had only been able to spot the shinobi because of his Byakugan - without the doujutsu; he would not have found the man.

''Is he still in a good condition?'' Mei asked in a firm tone. Some did not like being caught, to avoid such things; they went on to fight their pursuers. She was not looking forward to interrogate someone who could not speak. The man was not in a good condition to speak, and then interrogating him would prove useless.

''Yes,'' Ao responded with a firm nod. ''But there were some complications,'' he sounded not too sure about saying this one. It was like if he said it out loud, the Godaime Mizukage would have him executed.

''What?''

Ao was quite for a few moments. He chose his next words carefully. ''He tried to kill himself once he saw that he could not outrun us. But I was able to see through it quickly. However, he nearly tore through his vocal cord.''

Mei nodded. ''As long as he can speak, there should be no problem,'' the Mizukage said. She did not care about much the man. As long as he could tell her what he wanted from her village, she was okay. If he did not give him anything, then she would be unhappy.

''It seems like he won't be able to give us anything. Before I came here, I tried cracking him, but it appears that he was trained for this kind of situations,'' Ao said, a bit embarrassed about his failure to get anything from the man he had caught.

This was a surprise to the Mizukage, ''Were you able to ascertain where he comes from?''

''As far as what he was wearing, he is from Sunagakure. But when we first saw him, he was wearing a mask,'' he brought out the mask - it was just blank white. ''Do you recognize it, Mei-sama?''

The woman nodded. ''According to the Intel Naruto gave me; this masks belongs to Danzo's Root.'' Naruto had warned her about them. He had told her that the man did not trust anyone and was most likely going to send Root in her village to mess things up or doing something along the lines. In support of that, the blond had given her a file she would use to define the Root agents.

''Why would Danzo send his Root to infiltrate our village? Aren't we allies of Konoha? Is this not an act of betrayal?'' If it was betrayal, he would never forgive it. He would never allow anyone to take advantage of Kiri's weakened state.

''According to Naruto, Root is not in the control of the Hokage, but under Danzo. He did not specify what they did exactly, but he, Naruto, won't turn against me. He told me that Konoha might be our allies, but Danzo was not,'' Mei explained lightly. This was going to prove to be too troublesome. She had not thought that the man would do something like this. Using Suna's shinobi uniform was just made to put the blame on it.

''Regardless, it is still from Konoha. Perhaps aligning with them was not the best choice. How can we trust the Hokage if she cannot control a military force that is within her village? Who is to say that, tomorrow, they won't come and attempt to assassinate you without the Hokage knowing?'' Ao put out a few questions, displaying his worries.

''Shut up, Ao,'' Mei said quickly. ''We will deal with this quickly. The Hokage has to be informed about it though. However, we cannot allow such things to...'' she trailed off when a flash of yellow appeared in her office. The flash revealed Naruto. Ao had been ready to protect his Kage should there be a need. But Mei waved him off.

''Hello, chairwoman, Ao-san,'' Naruto greeted the two with a small smile Ao merely settled for a nod while Mei spoke.

''Hello president, what brings you here at this time?'' The Mizukage said smiling at the blond.

It was like this when they spoke. Despite neither having officially assumed their roles within the United Nations, they called each other by their titles. Mei was more than willing to tag along with the role play. It was also somewhat good doing it.

''United Nations Alliance,'' Naruto responded calmly. That was his business here. He did not come here for Konoha or anything. He came here to discuss the plans of the UNA with his chairwoman.

Mei nodded. ''Ao, leave us,'' the man did not need to be told twice. ''Do we have to talk now, I have been having a rather tiring day,'' the Mizukage said, leaning back to her chair. She motioned for Naruto to take a seat - the blond did so calmly.

''I have to talk with you today, but I will also return in the next four or five days,'' Naruto responded. His day was similar to Mei's - it had not been an easy day. But sometimes one just had to endure for other things to succeed or progress.

''Alright,'' Mei resigned.

''I want you to look at some of the proposals I have set up that will be proposed during the first conference next month. I have already drawn up everything, but I need your insight on these things.'' Naruto took out a file and handed it to the Mizukage.

''You don't rest, huh?'' Mei said taking the file. ''I will look at this later on - I have some business to attend today. And I believe this will need much time.''

Naruto nodded. ''There is no problem in that. On another note, I was planning on turning one of the islands that surround the Water Country into a prison facility for the United Nations Alliance.''

''A prison?''

''Yes, with that I have in mind, the UNA will be more involved in its members' matters. But that does not mean that we control everything. No we will be merely looking out for our members and that means arresting everyone that is proved to wish harm for our members,'' Naruto explained lightly.

''You wish for the UNA Police Force to handle such matters. This means that should a prison be established, anyone found guilty by the first court will be sentenced to the prison.''

Naruto nodded. ''Facilitating things through courts ensures that everyone is given an opportunity to prove themselves as innocent. A prison ensures that not everyone is killed because of trivial matters. Jail time reduces the number of people killed each day. This will in turn reduce the number of deaths, and gives one an opportunity to change.''

Mei smiled at Naruto. ''I like the idea. But such a project will demand much in terms of resources. And it will take some time to build a secure facility.''

''I have put a thought into that. And I have discovered that this project is not impossible. We can make it happen. But it needs full cooperation of our members. If our members are not willing to cooperate, then we cannot make it happen.''

''Combined efforts of a group can achieve many things,'' Mei said, a little in thought. ''I like what you have thought. Now tell me more about it before I excuse myself to attend other matters.'' She would have to tell him about the other matter. But first thing she needed to get some answers.

**Snow Country**

Koyuki smiled happily as soon as she got home from her office. She found her blond lying in her couch looking as though he was very tired. ''This is a wonderful surprise. I can find myself coming back home to see that face every day.'' she said smiling at him.

Naruto looked at her with a smile of his own. ''Then, I would have to be your wife if it has to happen like that,'' he responded calmly, as she woman sat across him on another couch.

''I am sure you would have no problems with that. It would not be so bad to be the wife of me. I am a famous actress after all,'' Koyuki stated. She was also a beautiful woman. Any man would want the chance if being with her. It was a pity that none of them could get their hands on her. She was reserved for one man only.

''How do you come up with that?'' Naruto asked quietly. He certainly would mind being the wife instead of being the husband. He was a man, therefore, should be the one to wear pants. Perhaps if he was a civilian it would not be much of a matter. But he was a shinobi; this made him much of a man than most civilians.

''Just a thought,'' the leader of the Snow country stated, with a small shrug of her shoulders.

''I like being in charge, and besides, you are not so manly to wear the pants,'' Naruto stated. ''You are much more feminine, despite your position. Well, you can get one of those fanatic followers of yours to be your wives.'' The woman had fans all over the world. And some men sort of like worshiped her for her beauty. Even some shinobi liked her very much.

''Hey, I can be manly,'' Koyuki said standing up. She did a manly pose and looked at Naruto with a stern looked ''Woman, get me food, I am hungry!''

Naruto blinked before he laughed. What was very much amusing was her tone. It was still feminine, which was much to Naruto's amusement. ''No, really, you should stick with being a woman. But when you do use that Daimio tone, it becomes another story.''

Koyuki pouted, a little before settling down. ''Perhaps I will do just that,'' she said, folding her hands across her chest. ''Then...?''

''You are my last stop; I will talk business with you later. Your house keeper is preparing something to eat, we will talk after we eat,'' Naruto responded.

''You are staying here for the night?'' she sounded a little excited about the thought.

''Yes. My body is a little tired. I need to rest and to relax my body. You hot springs are quite good for relieving tensions,'' Naruto responded. ''Don't get any ideas.''

''What ideas?'' Koyuki asked, giving Naruto an innocent look on her face. By the look on her face, he could tell that she was having some funny ideas. He was certainly not up for any of her games. He really just wanted to rest.

The blond shook his head. ''You are beyond help,'' he stood up. ''The boss is at the hot spring relieving some muscle stress.'' With that the blond disappeared in a small cloud of smoke.

''Dammit,'' Koyuki stood. ''Those damn clones of his. Well, it can't be helped. I will go and join him, whether he likes it not. I do not think he will put much of a fight though, especially since he knows he can't win.''

Later

''Naruto?'' Koyuki called the blond who was busy eating in silence. ''Have you been with another woman recently?''

Naruto stopped eating and looked at the snow princess blankly. ''Say what?''

''Last time when you came here, you were a bit different. You now won't even allow me to take a peek; this can only happen if you have someone in your sights,'' the princess reasoned looking straight at the blond.

''Is that the woman intuition telling giving you such a conclusion?'' Naruto asked with a raised brow. The questioned itself was a surprise to him. To think that the woman would ask with such a straight face...just thinking about it makes him shake his head.

''Yes,'' Koyuki responded with a firm nod. ''Now are you going to answer my question or not?'' The look on her face told Naruto that he only had one option in the matter; answer the question. The woman wasn't going to back down.

''What am I to you, Princess?'' Naruto responded with a question of his own, his eyes going back to his food.

''A good friend and somewhat of my personal savior,'' Koyuki responded without even so much as blinking. She didn't need to think to offer her response, it was right in her lips, ready to be dished out when the opportunity presented itself.

''Then don't you think that there should be something a friend can't tell you?''

''Naruto,'' Koyuki started calmly. ''You spent nearly a month under my roof, eating my food, and I treated you like a prince the whole time. I even allowed you to defile me,'' Naruto rolled his eyes at those words. It was more like she defiled him. ''Now you are tired again, you've rested in my hot spring and are eating my food under my roof, and you are gone be sleeping in my bed. I feel like I'm being used here.''

Naruto sighed. ''I've forgotten really close with the Wind Daimyo; she is a very good person and I do enjoy my time with her,'' he smiled fondly in thought. ''But I've not done anything with her if that is what you are asking. I still don't see what would be the problem if I had, you and I are not dating anyway.''

Koyuki nodded. ''Do you like her? You spoke about her last time you were here, and I can't help but think…"

Naruto looked at the woman blankly for a few moments before shaking his head. "I like her. Despite not being a shinobi, both my world and hers are connected, which makes things easy for me to construct a conversation with her. When I'm with her, it is like I enter this new world that is a mixture of hers and mine. She is warming, and I often find my mask slipping when I'm with her."

"Are you in love with her?"

"I never said anything about love." Naruto responded, well, he wouldn't mind to date her. His life was a bit lonely after all, and what she offered was something that Itachi didn't.

Koyuki shook her head. "Have you considered my proposal?''

''Yes,'' Naruto responded quietly.

''...and?''

''I don't know what to do.''

''I'm not asking you to have any responsibilities with me, Naruto. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. It will be just for political reasons and will help get that bastard of a prince out of my sight. And besides, this will help your position as leader of the UN. I'm an important public figure and this will only improve your image as well as strengthen your organisation. You have nothing to lose in all these.''

Jiraiya would tell him to go for it, for obvious reasons. She did put in a good argument, but he didn't know what to do about this matter. He was willing to do anything that he saw as right to help the UN succeed and what Koyuki was suggesting would only help him strengthen his own image, but...

''I will give you my answer after the conference,'' Naruto finally said.

''I'm hoping for a positive response,'' Koyuki sighed. ''Things aren't looking good for me at this moment.''

''I know.'' Despite the princess being a popular figure, things weren't going well for her. Her country was split between two opinions; there are those who thought she was the rightful ruler of the country, and there were those who agreed to the former but thought that she wasn't cut out for it. Things were looking tough as there was a man who was fueling things up by saying that Koyuki was a weak woman who shouldn't lead their country.

Things weren't helped by the fact that relationships with other lands were deteriorating because the princess was refusing marriage proposals from surrounding villages. It came at a cost as some were willing to cut off treaties because of rejection. The loss of treaties didn't do well for the Snow.

The country was rich, so at this moment it wasn't showing any signs of weakening, but given time, things would turn into another corner.

''If you know, why are you making things hard for me?''

''I've been studying the matter looking for alternatives,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''If you've studied this matter, you must've realized that I don't have much time left and there are only two alternatives for me; get married to the perverts who only want to defile my body or resign. However, with your current position in Konoha and the UN, you offer me a third alternative which I am happy to accept.

You are the only one I can trust Naruto. Of all the other men who can help me out, you are the only one I'm comfortably with and I know that you won't turn on me and force me to do things I don't want to do. Can you imagine what would be done to me if I was forced to marry a man who only wanted my power and my body? Can you imagine how I can be used? Can you imagine what would happen to me?'' The Princess gave Naruto a sad look that was mixed with some seriousness.

Naruto almost laughed dryly at this situation he found himself. He knew well what this woman was doing. Yes, the emotional game was played all too well. The question left for Naruto was whether he could stomach all the thoughts Koyuki had put in him or whether he was going to play the hero...

**End of chapter**

**Naruto may have learned to control his emotions, however, the scars of his childhood have not been erased. If you were Naruto, and each day you had almost the whole village glaring at you hatefully, you are bound to have some scary nightmares that leave a mark on you. I believe that explains the reaction in the first scene.**

**While I'm not thrilled by the idea of giving Naruto multiple women, I still do understand that political marriages form strong connections, and that is what Naruto needs for the UN to work. However, I don't mean that Naruto will be married to everyone women in the Naruto world to satisfy the desire for a harem.**

**A political marriage with Suna is out of the question since Naruto has a strong relationship with Gaara. Mei also is the "Chairwoman" of the UN, so there shouldn't be any need for marriages. The problem will be Iwagakure and Kumogakure. I'll see what I can do about those two.**

**The mix up with Koyuki makes things interesting for the relationship between Naruto and Mei. I believe that is "spices" things up. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed in chapter 19.**

**Yeh, Danzo will die, just give it some time, and I do admit that I forced things in chapter 18. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Konan looked from her window down the raining village of Amegakure. For the past years she has been leading this village, continuing to maintain the peace that Nagato had created. Yet, someone was here, trying to take away all the peace. She could not allow anything to happen to this village. It was Yahiko's dream for peace to reign in this place, and Nagato brought it.

A pity he also died.

However, she was left to inherit leadership of the village. True, the path to leadership of this village had come through bloodshed. Yes, their rebellion to Hanzo's reign had caused so many shinobi to die. She was not crying about it. No, she was happy that their sacrifices had brought this much peace to this land. So far, she had done it, she had continued to lead Amegakure towards lasting peace.

Nagato's dream was not just to bring peace to Ame, no, for the shinobi world. When the Great Villages plan to do battle, the smaller villages are always caught in the cross fire and turned into battlegrounds. Amegakure has not been an exception to this. This village has been tarnished before by the war between the great villages but now, she would not allow the story to repeat.

She hoped to help bring peace to this Shinobi world, a world full of malice and hatred.

Naruto was brining in a new idea. His idea was in some way similar to how the Akatsuki started when Yahiko was just alive. Their organisation fought for peace, and was welcomed by everyone. People knew them as the good people and members who also wished for peace joined them in numbers.

She wondered though, if Naruto's organisation would become crippled and turn like how Akatsuki turned. They had been betrayed and the result weighed on them much more than they would have thought. Nagato tried to continue on the same path, but in the end, things changed. While she held no grudge against anyone, she was not going to play the ''good girl'' for others to walk on her.

After years of being manipulated by Obito, Nagato had opened his eyes to see the reality. He realized that he was just being a pot used to cook a fresh piece of red meat, and in the end, he was not going to taste any of it. It took the realization for him to stand up on his feet and stop trying to follow someone from behind. He tried standing on his own feet, not just for sake of it, but to regain control over the organisation they had built.

Of course, Obito was not going to allow things to continue as they were when Nagato refused to do anything he wanted. For the other to fulfill his plans, the other had to die. Nagato had fought Obito, and she delivered the killing blow. Years of battles and shouldering so much pain that would cripple anyone, her friend no longer wished to continue on with his life.

The battle with Obito had left him seriously wounded, but she believed that they could have done something if Nagato really wanted to continue with his life. She believed that her friend could've survived and would've been alive with her in this day. A part of her believed that Nagato just wanted her to continue with their story.

She hoped she would carry both Yahiko and Nagato's stories, and bring them to a conclusion.

Konan looked back inside her tower, the large empty hall that she always liked to visit whenever she felt the need to oversee the village with her eyes. Naruto and Itachi had just appeared in her presence, the latter wearing his usual mask.

''I was beginning to think that you were no longer going to come,'' Konan stated, emotionlessly, as she turned her gaze back down at the streets of Amegakure. While she was expecting the two to visit her, she wouldn't have been sad if they didn't appear.

Both Naruto and Itachi didn't say a word for the seconds they spent walking up to her. Naruto took her left hand side and leaned at wall, with eyes fixed down on the streets and Itachi took her right side, he merely stood still beside her and narrowed his eyes where the other four eyes were looking.

''I was caught up with other things in Konoha and Itachi had to ditch Kisame so that he didn't force his way here,'' Naruto responded for both he and his former sensei.

Konan nodded in acceptance. ''How do we do this then?''

''Naruto and I will handle them. You should stay here with your men in alert to ensure that there are no surprises. We don't fully know what will happen while we engage the enemy,'' Itachi responded flatly.

''Between the two of us, the army that is heading towards this place is not that frightening, we can deal with it without risking too much of your forces.'' Naruto added after Itachi. ''I would like to have this done without any causality in your part.''

It felt like she was with a different Nagato and Yahiko, but they did not always have her stay out of the battle field. She always joined them whenever they fought, and here she was, these two were going to do the fighting for her. They were not allowing her to engage the enemy. ''My power will be useful if I go with you. I can't just sit here and wait for something to happen. Besides, I have more battle experience than the two of you.''

To her, Naruto was a child, and Itachi would be like a little brother. It was not that she saw them in that way. No, just their age differences would pen things to be in that form, but she viewed them highly.

''That may be so, but this is something that we must do. More importantly, this is something that I must do. The world has yet to know of me for my abilities. Though I am going to end up killing other humans today, this is will be a good for my image in the near future,'' Naruto didn't really care about how it sounded.

Perhaps if he was speaking to someone else, he would've been worried about someone misinterpreting his words. But it was just Itachi and Konan, the two would understand him. It wasn't the time for naivety to rule over his decisions. The hard choices had to be made, and he was ready to make those as long as it was still within the boundaries of what he deemed to be right.

''So you want to do this because you wish to use the battle as a platform to advertise your strength,'' Konan summarized, pretty much what Naruto had just said.

''Yes,'' Naruto responded, without so much as skipping a heartbeat. This just showed that he knew what he was doing and talking about. ''You can put it in many other ways, but I'm merely taking advantage of the situation. Regardless of how you put it or other people will view it, the fact is that we cannot allow what Onoki is planning to happen.''

Konan was not complaining about anything. It was fine even though he wanted to leave her out of the battle that was surely going to take place. This would serve well to determine the strength of the blond. Itachi had much praise in him, and yet she had truly never been able to gauge his full strength. The feeling he gave wasn't that of a powerful shinobi, but then again, he could be masking it.

''We have yet to discuss how this will affect you and your relationship with Konoha. Though, the Sandaime Tsuchikage has no plans to come after you for revenge, if you annihilate his army, it will not make you look any good before his eyes. No doubt he will send a message to Konoha about this since he won't be happy. You have no known allegiances with Amegakure and so does Konoha,'' Konan said, eying Naruto at the corner of her eye.

Itachi took Naruto's silence to speak, ''You didn't tell the Fifth Hokage about this, did you?'' He asked keeping his tone unreadable.

Konan had suspected as much. Given that Iwagakure and Konohagakure did not particularly like each other, this was surely going to cause a storm with the leaders of the latter village. This was such the world they lived in. Even if Naruto was helping out, it was going to be seen as wrong for him to help out given who his opponents were. It no longer mattered if you were just helping. No, help was only to be offered to allies.

She suspected that though Naruto was taking advantage of this situation to advertise his strength, he was doing this because he was her ally. Both Amegakure and Konoha may be part of the UNA, they were still no friends. She suspected that even though Konoha had joined, the village was not a full member of the alliance. It may be just that they are still putting Naruto's organisation on a trial run.

If that was indeed the case as she suspected, then they were not going to be pleased about this. It still didn't mean she was going to stop Naruto from doing what he wanted. Not at all. He must know the consequences of what he was planning to do. If not, then she would do well to remind him and ensured that he understood it well.

''I didn't tell them. However, Jiraiya is much aware of the army that is matching towards here.'' Naruto responded after some silence had settled in. ''I do wonder why he seemed calm about it. Perhaps he trusted that Amegakure was strong enough to deal with its problems. It is not far from the truth though'' He mused quietly.

''What do you hope to gain by this? I know that you would've told them if you did not have any other reasons,'' Itachi questioned, his gaze fixed on the blond beside Konan.

''If I had told them, Tsunade would have barred me from coming here knowing that it would only cause tensions. I don't think she would've cared if I told her I was doing it for the UNA not as a shinobi of Konoha,'' Naruto responded, calmly. Still, it was not the reason he did not tell the blonde Hokage that he was coming here.

''Even if she had barred you from coming here, you would have left Konoha nonetheless. Nothing less than being tied down in Anbu holding cells would've stopped you from coming here if you wanted to,'' Itachi stated flatly. If Naruto wanted to do something, he would do it. When the blond had set his mind on doing something, nothing less than breaking both his legs was going to stop him from doing what he felt was the right thing.

''I gave back my Konoha Hitai-ate because I knew that there was going to be a time where I would travel to lands that Konoha would not allow. If that happened, it would put me at odds with the leadership of the village. I may be a Jinchuriki and given some responsibilities, but I am not irreplaceable to many. It is in this case that I will test Konoha's trust in me,'' Naruto explained in a firm tone.

''Konoha has given you many responsibilities, Naruto. Why do you still wish to test its trust in you?'' Itachi questioned his tone just as firm as Naruto's. There was also the fact that Tsunade and Jiraiya trusted him with everything, which should be enough.

''You are thinking that because I have Tsunade, it should be enough. However, I think often you forget that what Konoha's people and what Tsunade thinks about me are two different things. Tsunade is also a Hokage, now tell me, if a situation arises and she is forced to choose between saving my life and thousands of Konoha's people, who dislike me for that matter, what would she do as a leader who has sworn to protect the people she leads?'' Naruto fixed Itachi a daring look.

Naruto made sense, and the logical decision for Tsunade to take would be save the lives of many than one. Before he could say his counter, Naruto spoke again.

''Even if she does choose my life over thousands, the remaining thousands will only grow to resent me even more. I am already hated for containing the Kyuubi, what would stop them for hating me even more if I become the reason thousands died,'' Naruto looked outside the tower again.

''Have you really lost faith in the people of Konoha?'' Itachi could only ask in a quite tone.

Naruto shook his head. ''I'm just being realistic. I still have faith that people can change. If I had lost all my faith in them, then my faith in the kages to work together towards peace would be questionable...''

Itachi could only nod. ''What more reason do you have in doing this?''

''I want to see those that I can trust in Konoha are. I know that I can count on Tsunade and Jiraiya, but I don't know about the rest of the leaders. This will also test Konoha's standing in all these. I want to see if they will become a problem that will stop me from doing what I must. This will also send a message to those who are members of the UNA.'' Naruto responded in the same firm tone he had used earlier.

Konan could only nod in agreement to his last words. The message to the other UNA members would be that Naruto would always be there to help regardless of what he was facing. He was planning to fight an army with just Itachi; the message was going to be very clear.

''If Konoha tries stopping you on some of the things must do, what will you do?'' Itachi questioned something that Konan had missed from Naruto's words.

''You have the answer to that, Itachi.''

Itachi knew what the answer was; he prayed that it didn't come to that. Yes, given that Naruto has already given back his forehead protector, Itachi could draw out that the blond would leave Konoha to pursue his dream.

Seeing that the spark between the two was over, Konan raised her own question. ''What do you think Onoki plans to achieve with this attack?''

''The army is too small to conquer a village like Amegakure and I don't believe the Tsuchikage is arrogant enough to believe that his army will defeat Ame's defenses,'' Itachi mused silently.

''It could be that he wishes to test Ame's military power,'' Naruto started. ''Over the past years, this villages inner workings have been hidden from other villages because Nagato did not wish for anyone to know where Akatsuki was based. This means that no one outside this village can give a clear estimate on the power of Ame. Now sending his granddaughter tells me that the shinobi she is leading are very capable. With her leading the army, it guarantees that he will get a clear indication on the strength of this village.''

Konan nodded and spoke. ''However, if you and Itachi engage them, they will gain nothing. In fact, it will be you will get valuable data on Iwa's forces,'' the older woman looked at Naruto carefully, ''but that is just what you want isn't it?''

Naruto didn't deny it. ''We should be leaving, Itachi. My clone has informed me that they will soon arrive at the spot. We should head there now and take some time to relax. All these talk has made me tense.''

Itachi nodded. ''Then we will continue when we return.'' With that said by the Uchiha, Naruto walked towards him and placed his right hand on his shoulder before they disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Konan sighed after the two had disappeared. After this, her respect of Naruto would surely go up a few stairs.

**Naruto and Itachi**

Itachi was sitting on a rock just beside Naruto; the blond was also sitting on a rock, the rumble he was sitting on was a little smaller than Itachi's. This gave the Uchiha more height than Naruto. Their surrounding was a barren field with a few rumbles lying on the ground. The sight of the environment was a clear indication that a great battle had once taken place.

Naruto was wearing a standard Konoha Anbu gear, metal plate on his chest, around his wrist and the sword of the Thunder God strapped on his back. He wore no metal plate on his forehead, allowing his hair to fall loosely.

A little above him, Itachi was wearing the same black gear. Adding to the attire, Itachi wore a white mask that did not even reveal his eyes. A small blade was strapped careful on his back. The attire seemed to fit him well. It was the same attire he wore when he committed a crime for which he is infamously known of.

They were currently waiting for Kurotsuchi and her army to arrive so that they could do battle. This clear ground was chosen because it was effective one that would allow Naruto to thin down their numbers using the Flying Thunder God technique.

''I still think you should just watch, Itachi. You health is deteriorating far more quickly than we had anticipated and that battle with Deidara did not do you any favors. Should you continue to put more pressure on your body, we won't be able to do something about your illness,'' Naruto stated, concern all over his voice and face.

Itachi sighed. He knew that Naruto wanted to speak to him about this when he said to hurry when they were still with Konan. ''I've told you before, I'm fine. I know the limits of my body and when I can't fight, I will stop.''

''Yes, you've said you are fine, but Kisame told me that you are not really well. Despite him never admitting it, he is really worried about you. He told me that you take your medicine more often these days, which is not good for you,'' Naruto said again, the concern in his tone never leaving.

''I am a shinobi, Naruto. If I'm to die, it has to be in the battlefield if it can be helped.'' He had no plans of dying though. However, he knew his body was reaching its limit and he had yet to even meet his date with his foolish little brother. He just wanted to have this last battle by Naruto's side, and then go back to the hideout to reserve his strength for his little brother.

''I understand that, but if something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do.''

''You are like a child sometimes,'' a small smile spread across Itachi's lips. ''Do you really need me to carry you as you go? You have started your plans, allies have been found, it is a matter of gathering them and see if they can work together.''

''Getting them to cooperate together is a task that will be a pain. I will also have many enemies who will want me to fail. Responsibilities will fall onto me, and everybody needs someone every now and then,'' Naruto responded, the concern now faded into a mere memory.

''I know that, but you have Jiraiya and Tsunade. Even if I'm not there with you, you can also count on those two. Moreover you also have the daimyo with you, when you are in pain, you can always cry on her shoulder.''

Naruto shook his head slightly before responding. ''None of them are you, Itachi.'' Pausing, Naruto shook his head again. ''I guess we should not talk about this now. But you know you are not permitted to use Susano'o. It puts a strain on your body and in your current condition, the strain will break you. I may be forced to seal you Mangekyou Sharingan so you can't use it, you are almost blind anyway.''

No doubt if he went overboard Naruto would seal his Sharingan the moment they leave this place. However, he was not planning on doing something like that. ''You will do the heavy assaults, and I will do the finishing while watching your back.''

''Sounds like a plan,'' Naruto said before silence settled down.

A few minutes later

Kurotsuchi came to a halt when she finally saw the two men her sensor had told her that they seemed to be waiting for her. She snorted at the thought of two men standing before her with the intention of stopping her and her army. She had about 600 men with her, against two was a mismatch. The numbers always did tilt the advantage.

She was not going to underestimate them though. For them to stand so calmly before them meant that they believed in their strength and the leader of Amegakure believed they could handle. Of course she did not believe that only two men could stand in her way. It could be arrogance that brought them here. Either case, it did not really matter, she held the advantage.

Once she got close to see them clearly, she was only able to recognize the Namikaze because the other man was masked and she did not recognize the chakra from anywhere. But looking at those two, she could tell that they were very much prepared for this.

She still smirked though. Luck was on her side, she finally got to see the Namikaze in person. Even though her grandfather refused to allow her to organize troops to murder him, today she would get her chance at him.

The blond was first to stand up and walk up to her. ''Oh, what a lovely surprise to see you here, Namikaze,'' the vernom in her tone, almost made Naruto pump the Kyuubi's chakra into his system to counter it.

''I can say the same Kurotsuchi,'' Naruto responded, smiling at bit at the black haired woman. ''I must say, you do look lovely - Pretty much more than what I've heard.''

Talk about wrong words at the wrong time...

''I feel like throwing up after hearing those words from you,'' the disgust in her face not hidden. Really, he had to complement her on her beauty? Normally, she would have appreciated the comment, but he was Namikaze. That was enough reason to feel disgusted.

Naruto merely smiled at her. ''Come on, Kurotsuchi, you don't have to be so rude. I mean, I have yet to do anything to you.'' He studied the silent men behind her with a careful eye. So far, he could say that there were mostly chunin, which meant it was not going to be a big problem, especially when he had the Hiraishin.

''Saying my name like that makes me want to spill out my guts and that smile of yours is making me mad by the second,'' Kurotsuchi was certainly not smoothing anything. Her eyes darted towards the other man; she had noticed that he had yet to move a muscle. It was like he seemed content on seeing this little chatter continue.

''You say such hurtful words,'' he certainly did not look hurt and a second later, the smile vanished. A mask of impassiveness took over. ''Now then, will you return home kindly? I would rather not fight with you if it can be helped.''

Itachi felt like rolling his eyes. Though Naruto was not lying, he was still saying those words because it would not do well to his conscious if they started fighting and killing the Iwa shinobi. The blond knew that they were not going to give up and he himself wanted to fight as it would help him. Perhaps he was just saying those words just so he could make himself feel better about what he was going to do.

Kurotsuchi scoffed. ''The feeling is not mutual. I would love nothing more than to fight you and I will not offer you any chance of surrendering, I want to crush every bone in your body and drag you back to Iwa as my trophy.''

''I guess it can't be helped,'' Naruto said.

''Don't worry, I won't kill you,'' Kurotsuchi said raising her hand.

On cue, hundreds of Kunai was flung towards Naruto in great speed. What the blond did notice was that they were mixed with explosive tags. Before they could reach him, powerful gusts of wind picked up in front of him before they connected with the thrown projectiles. The explosive tags exploded upon contact with the wind jutsu, igniting fireworks between the two parties.

Naruto disappeared back to Itachi after that.

Kurotsuchi merely smirked, ''It would have been disappointing if that had gotten him,'' she mused silently before stepping back to her men.

''Should I cut their numbers now?'' Naruto asked taking out the three pronged Kunai from the pouch behind him.

Itachi nodded. ''It will be good for us if their numbers are cut down, and using that technique will put them on edge giving us an emotional advantage over them.''

Naruto nodded and created a shadow clone. He hurled the clone into the sky for it to prepare the jutsu. The clone went through several hand seals before summoning the marked Kunais into the battle field. Upon their appearance in the sky, the clone did a wind jutsu that sent the Kunais hurling towards the Iwa army.

They managed to dodge, and block them. However, the objective was not to kill, but to take their positions on the ground.

''Oi, is that what I think it is?'' a man asked looking down at the three pronged Kunai that was imbedded on the ground.

''Shit! It is that cursed Jutsu!''

Panic spread like a wild fire in large waves.

''Quick, get away from t-,'' the man never finished his words Naruto appeared before him , crouched on the ground, lightning blade on his right hand, a second later, his head was rolling on the ground.

''Get away from those cursed Kunais!'' Kurotsuchi yelled loudly as her men began to panic loudly when heads started rolling on the battlefield. She had no way of knowing that he could use that cursed Jutsu! Without being able to predict where he would appear, it made it difficult to stop him.

''Bastard, he is over there!''

''Kick the Kunai away from you!''

''He just appears out of nowhere!''

''Dammit, I can't see him!''

''Where is he?!''

Itachi merely counted the seconds as Naruto flashed around the Iwagakure shinobi. After counting, he stood up preparing to enter the fray himself, 'he should be about done by now,' he thought.

Naruto appeared beside him, looking a bit out of breath. Despite the many heads he had cut off, there was no single drop of blood on his clothes. The blood was only on the blade, but that was also rid off when it was flicked and then put away.

''That took much from me than I anticipated,'' Naruto stated as he recovered his breath. ''Shall we...?''

Itachi merely walked beside the blond was they slowly made their way towards the enemy.

''Oi, this is going to be another massacre,'' a man stated, fear radiating from his voice as he stared at the headless bodies that lay around the battlefield. As a Kenjutsu expert, he could not help but admire the work done by the blond. It was just magnificent art. The heads were cleaved off the bodies with such precision and delicacy, that he wished to take one and place at as him as a piece of art.

Screw what anyone would think of his thoughts.

''Yeh,'' another agreed looking down at the corpses.

''At least he stopped using that cursed jutsu. Now we can fight him on level ground,'' one added, looking on the bright side of things. Although their numbers were thinned considerably in a mere minute, the two enemies seemed to be moving towards them to engage in a fair fight. That was at least something.

Though Kurotsuchi was seething at the turn of events, she could not allow her army's morale to hit Bottom Sea because of this. ''Hold your heads high. Where is your pride? Don't give up now when you can still fight!''

Curse that damn Namikaze!

''Remember to keep it light,'' Naruto said to Itachi as the two picked up their pace.

Itachi did not respond, he merely took out a Kunai and flung it towards the remaining shinobi before he went through hand seals. ''Kunai Kage Bunshin!''

Naruto did not wait for a second invitation to add to the attack, he jumped up to the air and held a single hand seal. **''Futon: Daitopa**!'' The wind jutsu enhanced the speed of the kunais Itachi had thrown and gave them a downwards momentum as Naruto blew them from above the sky.

''Do not underestimate us!'' An Iwa man said going through hand seals of his own. **''Earth Style: Mud wall!''** he slammed his hands to the ground and a wall of earth sprouted from the ground.

The speeding kunais were met with the wall and could not break through. The wall stood still as the Kunais impudent on it after coming down on some fast speeds. Not a single Kunai was able to make it past the wall, but Itachi was able to get through behind the group of five who were hidden behind the wall. Naruto teleported behind the Uchiha as Itachi took out his sword, and with deadly precision, five heads dropped to the ground.

''Fire,'' Naruto said, covering Itachi's back. They were now surrounded by a hundred men, who looked intent on breaking them. Both their backs are facing each other.

Itachi quickly spun around and did hand seals. ''Fi**re Style: Great Fire Ball no **Jutsu!'' The Uchiha spat out a large fire ball that went towards Naruto's side of things. The blond held a single hand sign and released gusts of winds that fused with the fire ball, enhancing its speed and destructive capabilities.

Itachi did not wait to see how it would fair as he was certain another earth wall was going to be released to block the jutsu. He charged at four men who were coming towards him with murderous intentions. His blade fully gripped, he braced himself.

The Uchiha blocked a kunai that was swung towards his head. He pushed back quickly as he was forced to duck under a swing that looked to cleave his head off his shoulders. Another man of the four jumped up with an attempt to kick the Uchiha under his heel while he was still crouching on the ground.

While the other man had jumped into the air, another tried a kick down at the Uchiha from the ground. Itachi could only block the kick coming from the ground at his level, the one from above could not be blocked, especially when there were other two waiting to take the initiative.

Itachi held out both his hands whilst on a crouched position in an attempt for a defense - the blade was still gripped firmly. Naruto appeared above him and kicked the man above the Uchiha. The kick was sent through to the air and sent the man flying away. While falling down the ground Naruto released more gusts of winds that sent the other two flying away from them.

By the time he touched the ground, Itachi was already on his own feet. The Uchiha was holding the foot of the man who had attempted to kick him. Naruto was quick to form a small Rasengan before plunging it into the man's gut.

**''Earth Style: Mud Dragon!''**

The jutsu was charged at both Naruto and Uchiha.

Naruto waited for Itachi to handle the dragon with a fire jutsu. He did not have to wait long as the infamous Uchiha went through hand seals before releasing his jutsu. '**'Fire Style: Great Dragon's Breath**!''

The jutsu Itachi released sped towards the mud dragon in the same speed. The others settled for watching the jutsus collide while others got ready for action. When the jutsus collided, neither succeeded in breaking through the other. They merely cancelled each other out before a smoke settled down because of the collision.

**''Earth Style: Earth Spikes**!'' Another man yelled hitting the ground with both his hands.

The ground beneath Naruto and Itachi shook before the two jumped into the air. Earth spikes sprouted from the ground. Nearly, the two would have been pierced if they had been a second later in their getaway. However, while they were still in air, there was a problem for their landing because now everyone was watching them. Sure is hell when they touched the ground more assaults were going to rain on them.

Naruto clasped both his hands, manipulated the wind around him**. ''Wind Hammer!''** despite the jutsu being called a hammer, it was not precisely a hammer. What Naruto did was manipulate the wind beneath him into the form of something slab. The height was a little smaller no more than, but the width was very much large - it was more of a wind slab than anything. The force the jutsu carried was enough to crush anything under it depending on the pressure Naruto put.

The jutsu Naruto had formed sped down the ground and leveled the spikes that had formed. Debris picked up on the ground, but both Naruto and Itachi did not mind it was they landed directly in the middle of it.

Before the debris could finally settle down, another man came from the ground, a kunai on his right hand. He shot out like a bullet in front of Naruto and went straight to pierce him under his chin. Naruto was quick enough to lean back a little to avoid being pierced.

While Naruto dodged, Itachi moved in fast movements and punched the man straight on his chest while he had yet to balance himself from his fine appearance. Naruto composed himself before twisting; a kick to the man's temple sent him back to the others.

''When he started using that jutsu, I thought we were going to lose, but now I can feel the confidence radiating within me.''

''We can do this! There was nothing to fear after all!''

Kurotsuchi smiled when she heard her remaining forces speak like that. It was no good for her to lose comrades, especially to that Namikaze. However, if they got their confidence back, they could fight well without anything hindering them. It would not have pleased her if more died in this battle. However, as things were, they were never going to reach Amegakure.

Assassinating the leader would prove to be the best option.

''They seem to have grown confident. This makes it worth fighting them. I really don't like fighting someone who has no confidence in him/herself,'' Naruto stated, taking out his blade again. ''I'm going to go wild now,'' he said, before he disappeared.

Itachi only watched. Perhaps he should preserve his energy and watch Naruto. He'd never seen Naruto fight against shinobi of his quantity before. Nodding to himself, Itachi disappeared.

Naruto appeared in the middle of about 20 men. Before anyone could attack, he struck the sword of the Thunder God to the ground. **''Thunder Shock!''** a burst of lighting shot from the ground and shocked, literally, the men who were surrounding him. The shock didn't do anything that harmful; it just paralyzed them long enough for his next play.

Naruto held out his right hand, and put it in a horizontal position, **''Gentle Wind Cutter!''** an invisible sword which was long formed from his stretched hand. Naruto did a swift spin, along with the sharp wind blade. His spin didn't take two seconds to complete. However, all 20 men fell down the ground, bodies cut in half around the waist.

The others could only watch in anger as their comrades dropped to the ground in two pieces, dead. Blood sprayed everywhere, guts looking to spill out as they'd been cut around their waists'. Their eyes were wide in shock, no doubt some of it from the Thunder Shock, Naruto had released earlier.

Naruto picked up his blade and strapped it on his back before looking on as jutsus of water and earth natures came towards him, roaring in furry. He merely clasped both his hands. **''Wind Barrier**!'' He manipulated the wind in the path of the jutsus to form a wall that could not just be broken by those jutsus. They ended canceling each other.

The remaining shinobi surrounded Naruto again, leaving no way for him to escape. They formed a ring around him, glaring down at him dangerously with Kunais and swords in their hands. It was like they had put him on a stage and surrounded him with vultures. There was no escape for him, except through them.

A smoke bomb was sent towards him and it exploded. Naruto didn't wait to be killed blindingly. His hands blurred through hand seals. '**'Wind Tornado**!'' A giant tornado quickly formed beside him and picked up in speed and fury. The spinning of the tornado cleared the smoke cleared by the smoke bomb and left Naruto with his use of his full vision.

The Iwa shinobi were not willing to wait for what was going to happen. While their attention was focused on the tornado, Naruto summoned his second blade. He held it on his right hand, and allowed it to take a horizontal position. **''Wind Blade!**'' Another swift spin and the wind blade, similar to wind cutter was let loose. It left like a wave, however, twice as fast as the wind cutter and much more lethal. The technique was able to cut through even the tornado he had formed.

All the men in the front fell down the ground in two pieces. ''What the hell?!''

''Did you just see what happened?!''

''I didn't see anything!''

Kurotsuchi gritted her teeth. This was doing nothing but kick down to the ground the confidence her forces had birthed. It if continued like this, she was not going to have an army and she wouldn't be happy about it. Curse that Namikaze. She would have to fight him herself.

Naruto was suddenly blown away when a kunai with an explosive tag exploded before him. He was blown right directly into the mob of the enemy. Before he could completely regain his composure, his right hand was gripped firmly, and he was kicked twice by two men one of his chest and another on his gut. Naruto winced in contact before the man gripping him let loose of him.

**''Fire Style: Dragons Breath!''**

The jutsu was sent straight at Naruto in great speed. The blond held both his hands, and put up a wind barrier before him. The wind barrier held on against the fire jutsu.

Hands burst out of the ground again. However, Naruto didn't allow himself to be caught in the same trick twice. He jumped into the air, avoiding both hands. However it seemed that his opponents just wanted him to do exactly that.

Being in the air meant they could attack him without their jutsus hitting friendlies. Naruto cursed while still in midair. Earth spikes charged at him while still in midair and several mud bullets also charged at him. Naruto knew that if he allowed those things to hit him, it wouldn't be good for his health.

He flashed through hand seals. The only way to deal with earth for him in that position was to melt it with fire. He used one of the two Fire Jutsus he could use effectively. ''Fire Style: Great Fireball!''

The jutsu collided with the earth jutsus and melted them. The small explosion that occurred bellow him.

With danger averted, Naruto began to fall down the ground. However, as he was about to hit the ground, earth spikes burst out and waiting for him with open arms. Naruto clasped his hands and called on a familiar jutsu. ''Wind Hammer!'' because it was done in such a haste, it only hit enough spikes for him to land safely.

Debris did pick up after that, and Naruto was again surrounded by his enemies. The all lunged at him with intent to tear his body apart. Naruto loved his meat; he didn't want to end up as uncooked food for the vultures that hover about the sky.

He flashed through hand seals, ''Shredding blades!'' The jutsu was no ordinary jutsu. It was an S-rank jutsu that killed on contact without struggle. What Naruto did was create small blades of wind around him. In numbers, close to thousands. These blades spin around like a shuriken while swirling around the user. Once fully formed, they spread out all sides and cut through anything in their way.

The blades could cut through flesh like a chainsaw going through fresh meat. Bones were not a difficulty, as long as they were within a certain range.

The Iwa shinobi weren't fortunate as the dangerous jutsu did what it was called. It shredded them down like a paper shredder. The sight was awfully disturbing to the gut. Blood, guts, brains, splattered around Naruto. Screams of terror arose at the sight and those remaining, took a step back in fear and not so feeling well with that they were seeing.

It was like their comrades had been chopped down into pieces in preparation for a feast of stew. A headless body was one thing, but these were no longer bodies. These were guts, small pieces of meat and blood everywhere. Worse, earth refused to cover it up or even drink the blood.

''W-what the hell is this?'' throwing up, some did just that.

''M-murderer! This is j-just horrible!'' There was no way they could retrieve the bodies of their dead comrades and bury them home. How could they? It was just guts and pieces of flesh everywhere.

Naruto had no blood on him. However, he didn't look at the sight his jutsu left behind. He looked up in the heavens. They couldn't attack with what he'd just done. It was enough bloodshed for him to take. He couldn't take it anymore. Still, he kept the mask of impassiveness on his face.

''Suiton: Mizurappa!'' Kurotsuchi shot a jet stream of water towards an unsuspecting Naruto. The jutsu collided with him and sent him away from her remaining forces. Naruto hit the ground on his knees and looked at the furious black haired woman, his expression become grim.

''Bastard, I'll kill you for this!'' Kurotsuchi yelled, anger, murderous anger flowing through her veins and the glare she sent Naruto told him exactly what she felt.

Naruto stood up and looked at Itachi; the Uchiha nodded. ''Will you return home, Kurotsuchi? Do you wish for more of your men to die before your very eyes?''

Kurotsuchi never stopped glaring at Naruto. ''If doesn't have to be that way if you fight me yourself...''

Naruto shook his head. ''I don't wish to kill anymore of your men. I don't know much about your abilities. Maybe you can handle me, but those you lead cannot do that.''

It was true, and there was still his partner to deal with. ''I swear, Namikaze, I'll kill you.'' Kurotsuchi spoke in a low growl.

Naruto nodded not accepting that she would kill him but the challenge. ''I'll be waiting for you Kurotsuchi-san.'' He offered her a real sad smile that made her stomach twist. ''Should we find ourselves in such a position next time, I won't be merciful.''

''Is this what you call being merciful?'' Kurotsuchi growled, looking at the results of Naruto's last jutsu. The disgust was painted with artistry on her face.

''Perhaps not,'' he admitted in a quite tone.

The fact that he was acting like he was sad made Kurotsuchi mad. He looked sorry for his actions, and was not denying that he may not have been merciful. He was also showing her ''kindness'' by allowing her to leave without another round ensuring. ''Watch your back wherever you go because for the rest of your life, I will hate you, resent you, and hunt you down until I capture. You are no different from your cursed father,'' her fingers snapped and she was gone.

Naruto fell down on his knees and threw out the meal he'd eaten earlier. He then stood up after the episode and created a clone to collect the remaining Hiraishin kunais he'd left behind.

He walked up to Itachi, before looking at the heavens again. ''I wonder what I was thinking when I created a jutsu like that.''

Itachi offered no words of comfort, he stood up from the rock he'd been sitting on and spoke. ''We should return to Konan. Standing here any l...'' he trailed off when he felt movement behind Naruto.

The Uchiha moved quickly enough to block a kunai that was aimed at Naruto's spinal cord. One of the enemies had left behind and managed to get this close to them while their thoughts were pre-occupied. If it had not been for Itachi, Naruto would have been hurt, seriously.

Time slowed slightly as Naruto turned around to see what had happened in his moment of weakness. Blood sprayed on his face and the assailant's body dropped to the ground, but Itachi remained frozen. ''Itachi..?''

The Uchiha turned around slowly, mask broken, eyes closed, and a sad smile on his face.

**Amegakure**

Konan shook her head when she saw the look on Naruto's face. He looked pathetic if not miserable. There are times when she forgot that he was still just a kid. Perhaps he had grown, but he was still not experienced enough in the shinobi world and in the path he's taken, he was surely going to do much more of the things he'd just done and he would lose some of those he loved.

Naruto was sitting on the edge of the window, legs outside the tower, looking over Amegakure. A soft touch on his shoulder brought him back to earth. It wasn't that he'd been inside his thoughts. No, he'd been lost in a world void of anything.

He looked back at Konan; she gave him a small, very small smile. ''Are you alright?'' she asked quietly.

''Not really, but I'll be fine,'' Naruto said tone grim as well as his expression. ''How are we going to deal with this mess now?'' He asked changing the subject. His health was important, however, this matter needed to be resolved before he could leave the village.

Konan thought twice before responding. Men, she shook her head. ''With this complete failure, I believe they won't be testing Ame's power anymore. It it most likely that there'll be tensions surrounding the two villages.''

Naruto nodded. ''I guess for now it'll be best if you restrict your forces movements around the Earth country. For an obvious reason, they'll not be allowed to roam free.''

''Death will most likely meet them if they venture around the Earth Country. I'll see to it that they won't be going there. However, we must deal with the issue. Onoki cannot be allowed to do something like this,'' Konan said in a firm tone. She wouldn't allow the man to leave this without paying.

Again, Naruto nodded. ''Let us wait to see what he'll do. It won't do any good if we rush over to Iwa demanding that he explain and compensate for his actions. It'll be tricky because we suffered no damage. However, we will pay that man a visit, soon.''

Konan noted that he was using ''we'' as if he was part of Amegakure. By the way he was speaking, it seems like she he'd made himself a member of her village. Well, she wasn't complaining about it. ''That still leaves you...''

''Kurotsuchi will be out for my head. I think that she will be hunting for me everywhere I go. It is most likely that assassins will be out to get me. I will watch my back and have someone to that also. Don't worry about my safety, you have Amegakure to worry about,'' Naruto said his tone regaining some firmness, and he was looking down the streets of Amegakure.

''Are you sure you can watch your back all the time?''

''I can't watch my back all the time. Don't worry though; I have managed to get some friends along the way. Allow me to introduce to you to one of them, he is one of the most trusted ally I have,'' Naruto said. ''Shi, come out.''

Just then, a shadow appeared behind the two of them. Konan could not see the face of the man. Everything was just black; he blended well with darkness and seemed to be one with the shadows.

She had not sensed his presence and that was something. ''Is he always watching you?''

Naruto shook his head. ''I travel a lot and he has his own job to do. He will be in contact with you from time to time. His specialty is information gathering''

Konan nodded. ''We'll mostly deal with the Iwa matter after your first conference. Tensions will just rise high and a lot of talk will arise. I'll need to bolster my security.''

''Shi will inform you should there be impending threat to the villages' safety.'' Naruto shifted back to the tower and faced Konan again. ''I will take my leave now.''

''Are you going to inform Konoha of this now?''

Naruto closed his eyes, going through some thoughts. ''I'll write to Tsunade. She should be receiving the message today. I won't return to Konoha. At least for a few days; I need some time alone.'' He gathered his thoughts before speaking again. ''Please take care of Itachi for me Konan.''

Konan wasn't going to lie to him; she was going to be frank. ''The wound he received wasn't fatal. However, the Kunai that pierced him was dripped in poison. Added to his disease, it looks bad, but he will survive.''

Naruto nodded, but he should have known when Kisame came to him that things were already worse. Moreover, Itachi was hurt because he'd let his guard down and showed weakness whilst still in the battlefield. ''I know he will. I'll talk to you tomorrow.''

Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow, and when Konan turned to face Shi, he was already gone. She shook her head. Things have just turned troublesome.

**Konoha, Later that day**

**Root Base**

''To think that the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki would be capable of doing something like this,'' Danzo mused silently looking at the report he'd received from the events that transpired earlier during the day.

He didn't think that Naruto had it in him to be like his father, but it appears that the younger blond was a lot more brutal than his father. Well, at least he wasn't as naive as he was beginning to think he was. However, the end of the battle still showed weakness on the blonds' part, but it was alright, as long as he did not cave in during the battle itself.

Still, his mind couldn't hope to understand what Onoki was trying to accomplish. He didn't think that Onoki was that stupid enough to attempt to take over a village with only 600 men. There had to be something that the man was trying to achieve. There had to be something. His mind just couldn't grasp it.

It could be that Iwagakure was in some sort of trouble, economically and politically. But they didn't seem to be suffering from anything in terms of military power. Danzo thought something along those lines. There had to be something that Onoki was trying to achieve, and something he was planning.

''What should we do about this, Danzo-sama?'' Fu questioned, referring to the latest report they'd read.

Danzo his head. ''We will wait to see what Tsunade will do. But in the meantime, prepare my visit to the Fire Daimyo.''

''Hai, Danzo-sama.''

**Meanwhile, Uzushiogakure**

Naruto found himself being pulled into the familiar sewer he didn't like very much to visit. His eyes became fixed on the blood-red eyes of the beast that was locked within the cage inside his gut.

"**You are rather pathetic**," The Kyuubi, clear distaste in its voice was evident.

Naruto merely smiled at the words, "What do I owe the compliment?"

Kurama snorted, "**You are making enemies for yourself, and soon, you will start to lose your loved ones. Some will die pathetically; some will die in front of your eyes. That Uchiha only was only cut a little and now you've become all depressed because you failed to do anything. How are you going to cope with deaths of loved ones if a cut that only draws blood is enough to make you miserable**?"

"I have you to tell me how pathetic I am," Naruto responded with a sad smile. "Besides, I'm not down because Itachi was hurt, I'm only down because of the outcomes of his situation," the blond said. "I fear that even if Itachi survives, he won't be able to able to fight anymore. Three years ago, Itachi's eye sight was already bad, and while he was training me, he continuously used his Mangekyou to make me better. The more he uses the Mangekyou, the more his sight worsens, and so does his sickness. If I want him to continue living, I will have to make a choice."

**End of chapter**

**I'll try to improve my fighting scenes and put them more detail into the fights as much as I can. I do think now we will have lots of fights and get to see Naruto use Senjutsu. **

**From the next chapter I'll so see that I don't skip the little moments.**

**Thanks again to those who reviewed**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Miyuki smiled, looking at Naruto. She'd seen him a bit sad in a few occasions, but she'd never seen him this sad. What he usually wore was a smile or just a flat out blank look on his face. But this was a new look on his face that made him more of a human being than anything.

He was standing in front of her door at her quarters within the palace, at the wind capital. He looked pretty miserable, and she could only guess he was here for comfort. Miyuki felt oddly happy about it. No, there wasn't anything odd about her happiness; it was normal that she feel that way.

The last time she saw him, he'd put his hand over her neck, his face twisted and now this. This made things a lot easier for her to deal. No matter what happens, she will always reflect on this, she will always know that Naruto is a person and has a heart just like her.

Seeing him miserable didn't particularly excite her, no, there was no good reason to be happy about that. Perhaps a sadist would be happy over something like that, but she wasn't such a person. What made her happy was the fact that he came here, to her, to speak to her in such a situation. He obviously highly rates her comfort, hence his presence here.

Such a thought nearly made her squeal in delight.

It was already night, she could guess he wasn't able to sleep that well. ''Come in Naruto,'' she said smiling. The blond entered without saying a word. Miyuki closed the door behind her, and leaned a little, for a second. She released a breath she didn't even know she was holding. The daimyo then followed Naruto towards her sitting-room.

''Sorry to spring out on you like this,'' Naruto said, smiling a bit. Miyuki could very well tell that the smile was forced. ''I couldn't think of anywhere to go,'' he said.

Uzushiogakure didn't give him any positives to think off. It only reminded him of all fellow clansmen he'd lost or his mother had lost when the village was invaded years ago. As far as he knew, he was alone in this world, there was no Uzumaki around and that just made him sad.

He didn't even think of returning to his house in Konoha. That place would only remind him that with Itachi out of commission, he had no one to fully rely on. It would remind him that his parents were dead and he couldn't turn to them when things had turned out bad. He wasn't able to call upon his mother for comfort when he needed it, he couldn't call upon his father for one of those comforting talks when he wanted one.

Miyuki, despite not being a shinobi, she was much involved in the shinobi world due to her position as Daimyo. She could understand him. She could understand what he was feeling. Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade could offer him the same comfort and warmth as she could and does, hence his presence here.

Miyuki merely smiled and waved her right hand dismissively at his apology. She sat down at a large couch, and looked back at Naruto who was still standing. ''Don't worry about it,'' she said. She patted her lap, and spoke, ''Come here,'' she said to Naruto.

The blond hesitated for a few moments before he finally gave in. He spread most of his body on the couch and lied down on the left side. His head rested comfortably on Miyuki's lap, and silence settled down as the woman patted him on the head.

''What is wrong, Naruto?'' Miyuki asked in a soft tone that was filled with nothing but warmth.

''I find myself questioning whether I am truly worthy to call myself a peace-loving man. I killed men in a ''bad'' way, and I shouldn't have killed them. I should've just knocked them out. My actions will worsen the situation between Konoha and Iwa. My goal is to be the bridge that connects those who aren't connected. But what am I doing by becoming a stumbling block to my own dream?

I feel dirty, no different from a murderer. It doesn't matter what my reasons are, but I killed people in a brutal way. When I killed bandits, I didn't feel worse. Perhaps it was because those were evil people who lived for nothing but to harm others. What of those I recently killed though? They aren't like bandits, they are just shinobi fulfilling their orders, yet I killed them.

I wonder if my decisions were wrong and my definition of right and wrong isn't something that relates to justice. I wonder if my training wasn't enough to prepare me for this journey.''

Miyuki listened carefully, a sad smile formed on her face. She wanted to do nothing but to hold him close to her chest. However, their current position didn't allow her to do something like that. She stopped patting him and held both his hands, filling them with warmth, ''I can't honestly answer all your questions. I believe the answer lies deep within your heart; it is only clouded by what you feel at this moment. I can only say this; don't ever doubt yourself, and we are all humans, every now and then, we will make wrong decisions; we aren't perfect. It takes a brave and good man to admit that he was wrong, and I believe that you're that man, Naruto.''

**Unknown location**

Danzo's movements came to a halt when Naruto appeared in front of his group. The blond shinobi was standing still on a tree branch, wearing Konoha's Anbu's uniform. His posture gave away nothing and his expression seemed to give off a feeling of coldness. His hands were folded across his chest. What Danzo did note was that he wasn't tense, and seemed prepared for battle.

The war hawk smelled danger in the atmosphere and motioned for his entire Root to appear around him. There were about seven of them he was travelling with. They all appeared around the trees, surrounding their master, their eyes firmly fixed on Naruto.

The blond then jumped down the ground, and took a few steps forward. The Anbu standing closer to Danzo flung a kunai towards Naruto. The Kunai sped down the target, but it wasn't intended to hit the blond. Naruto was forced to come to a halt when the Kunai was flung towards him. The kunai hit the ground just inches away from his right foot.

His tracks stopped, Naruto looked at Danzo for a few moments before taking out his sword. ''Danzo,'' Naruto started talking within the deathly silent forest. His tone was devoid of any feeling. It sounded as though death was speaking. ''What are you trying to do?''

He already knew the answer to the question. However, the question felt necessary given this occurring predicament Naruto was in. The Anbu were staring at him like death calculates its prey, watching him from head to toe. There wasn't a single movement within his body that was missed. The watchful eyes captured every moment like a fine tuned digital camera.

Yet, none of that diverted Naruto's attention from the ''cripple'' standing on top of a tree branch. He'd told himself he would not waver; he wasn't going to throw in the towel, regardless of what was standing before him. Perhaps it could be seen as thoughtless for him to enter such a cave - a cave that housed a cunning and deceitful being like Danzo.

But Naruto had belief in his strength. Whether hell opened her mouth and spat out waves of scotching flames towards his form, he wouldn't hit the road. If he couldn't defeat such an opponent, what good was he? There were evil creatures that lurked in the darkness, more powerful than Danzo, if he couldn't purge this one, what hope did he have to defeat the stronger beasts that crawl within the shadows of the Elemental Nations?

Danzo looked at all his Root, trying to see how they would deal with this one. He'd taken the strongest with him in case nuisances like this crawled into his way. Silently nodding to himself, Danzo called the other Root that had yet to appear aside from the seven, ''Sasuke,'' the war hawk called. ''Deal with this: I have more pressing matters to deal with in Konoha. However, keep him alive. I have use for the Kyuubi.''

With those words escaping his cold lips, Danzo was ready to leave this place before too much attention was drawn here. He believed that Sasuke wouldn't have a problem with fighting his former teammate. Naruto had been the wall that stood in the way of his escape to Orochimaru, and it wasn't a mystery to Danzo that the raven haired Uchiha held some resentment towards the blond.

Sasuke appeared a few feet away from Naruto. An expressionless face covered his front, and he didn't look the slightest interested in doing battle with Naruto. The Uchiha stared at Naruto quietly, the Sharingan already activated as he studied the blond like this curious object. The look on Naruto never changed, even for a second.

Sasuke turned around, and started to walk away from Naruto. ''No,'' he said. He then decided to explain himself. ''I no longer have use for you Danzo. If Naruto plans to kill you, I won't stop him. He will be merely removing you for me.''

Danzo watched Sasuke's back with a narrowed look. He was more than ready to pounce on the raven haired to teach him a few lessons he ''forgot'' to teach him. To think that the Uchiha would turn on him on this day, at this time, and when he was faced with such a situation.

''So you're finally going to betray me,'' Danzo was rather calm about this. However, deep inside the black hole he had for a heart, anger was bubbling like steaming water in a pot. ''I'll deal with you later,'' he motioned for five of his Root to move. Two left and stood by his side.

Sasuke shook his head, and jumped onto a tree. He settled down on a strong branch, overlooking everything. He then spoke in a cold tone. ''If Naruto proves incompetent, I'll end it myself.'' He'd been waiting for the right moment to kill the fool. Allowing Naruto to do also meant that he wasn't going to get his hands dirty. Konoha might decide to send hunter-nins for whoever kills the war hawk, and he wasn't looking forward to be looking over his shoulder each time he walked.

If Naruto couldn't do it, then he would finish it all by himself. Naruto would take the blame and he would walk free while searching for his brother. Naruto knew where his brother was, however, the blond wasn't going to tell. He had reason to believe threats weren't going to do it. This means that after this battle is over, Naruto will be weak, and he would take advantage of it.

He could use his Sharingan to get the truth.

Naruto was under no illusions that Sasuke was actually an ally of his. As soon as he was done, he will be forced to grow eyes on his back because the Uchiha will pounce on him like a hungry lion, and he wasn't about to be made a meal. He had so much to live for in this world, he couldn't allow anything to stand in the way.

''Take care of him quickly,'' Danzo ordered the five Root who had left his side. He was going to put Sasuke aside for now and deal with the first problem. He would deal with Sasuke after Naruto was dealt with.

''Hai Danzo-sama.'' The five Root Anbus chorused before flashing towards an impassive Naruto.

They appeared a few feet away from Naruto on the ground. They eyes peered through their masks as they tried to gauge his strength or predict his first move. Although he was a Jinchuriki of the strongest tailed beast, Naruto wasn't known for using its power. Danzo assumed he lacked control over the beast.

This was his life, this was what he'd chosen and he would endure. He had to. Battles like this were going to become regular in this journey he'd decided to take, and he hoped to walk out of each battle alive, with all his health. Perhaps he may leave some blood behind, but as long as he could walk out of the pits of hell, Naruto wasn't going to complain.

Even when faced with creatures that had no emotions, he would stand firm.

There was no holding back from this, Naruto thought silently as he readied himself for the inevitable battle. The sword of the Thunder God glowed lightly on his right hand, it was held on a reverse grip. There was no use in putting it aside when faced with such situation. He couldn't afford to waste chakra on pointless things.

The Root Anbu who was in the middle, definitely a male with black hair, sped towards him. He had his own blade in his right hand. The speed the man used was nothing less of Anbu-level. However, Naruto was used to such speeds as he'd trained with Itachi, a former Anbu, and his own speed was nothing to joke about.

He didn't wait for the man to reach him; Naruto took off in a matching speed. Small amounts of debris picked up as his feet took off abruptly, moving his body towards the incoming enemy. As he moved towards the enemy, Naruto brought his blade in the front and positioned it in the left around his waist section; its tip pointed down as he prepared for a strike.

When the finally reached each other, Naruto instinctively, acted first: he brought out his sword from the left, charging towards the opponent and swinging it in an upwards slash that threatened to rip off the opponent's gut from the waist up until his chin. The Root Anbu brought his own blade in a downwards slash to counter the attack from Naruto.

Both swords clashed between the two opponents. Naruto's blade sparkled a bit of electricity as the steel blade made contact with it. The Root Anbu tried pushing Naruto backwards by adding more force behind his grip on the hilt of his blade. Naruto didn't budge, his feet struck to the ground and he put in more strength behind his push.

Stalemate.

As if reading each other's' mind, both Naruto and the Root 1 jumped back to create some breathing space between them. Both landed on the ground gracefully, before affirming their grips on their blades. They lunged at each other again, using the same speed they'd used before.

Naruto swung his blade from top right in a downwards swing that was aimed at his opponents neck on the left side his head. The blade moved with incredible speed, blinding to the untrained eye; the only traces of its passing through the air was the electric currents that sparkled dimly. Despite the fast speed in which the blade was swung, the Root Anbu brought out his own blade on his left side, both his hands held it in a vertical position; its tip facing the heavens.

The swords clashed in a fury of electric shocks sparkling. Despite his opponent holding his sword with two hands, Naruto's swing was still a lot more power. What made it more powerful was the speed in which the blade was swung. Naruto tried pushing his opponent, trying to cut through his blade, but it didn't break.

Acting swiftly, Naruto handed his blade on left hand. Grip firm; he swung it down in vertical slash that was above the opponent's head. He intended on splitting the man's head in half. On reflex only, the Root Anbu held his blade above his head in a horizontal position. The swords clashed above his head. He held up his blade in a firm defense.

The Root Anbu pushed up, using the advantage of his position to push away Naruto's blade. The clash of the blades was over as Naruto was unable to continue pressing on with the pressure on his blade. His opponent didn't wait for him to attack this time: he swung his blade with his right hand in a horizontal slash, high around Naruto's shoulders. The blade cut through the air in blinding speeds. The swing threatened to cut through Naruto's neck from his left. Naruto acted swiftly and ducked under the slash.

Within those seconds he was ducking under the swing, a small **Rasengan** formed on the palm of his right hand. The plan was to drive through his opponents gut. However, before he could initiate the second stage of his attack, another Root Anbu appeared behind him while he was still in the crouched position. The man he'd been exchanging blows with jumped away, making room for the one that came on his back.

The Root Anbu 2's right foot lashed at Naruto, aiming for the right side of his head.

**''Wind Explosion**,'' Naruto muttered seeing that he couldn't block the kick that was aimed at his head. What he did was simple to anyone who mastered wind manipulation. Converting his chakra to wind wasn't something that Naruto found to be a difficulty. Hence in a short time, he was able to covert chakra within his body into wind before letting out. When it is released, it is expelled out of his body like a shock wave.

The wind force blew the Root 2 away from Naruto. However, given that the jutsu wasn't that strong, it only pushed him a little away from the blond. The side-effect of the jutsu was having the small Rasengan explode on his right hand. The explosion did no damage at all.

Naruto stood up from the ground, and looked at his right hand: there was no damage done by the **Rasengan.** It would have been a bother if he'd been hurt by his own jutsu. He didn't like the idea of getting hurt by something of his creation. His left hand was still gripping the Sword of the Thunder God firmly.

The eyes of the Root Anbus stared right at him from different directions; so far it was good. But they shouldn't keep their master waiting as there was still the insolence of Uchiha Sasuke to deal with.

Root Anbu 3 took his turn: he rushed at Naruto while doing hand seals. He channeled his chakra perfectly before converting it to Katon. His movements came to a halt when he held his right hand over his mouth. **''Fire Style: Great Fire Ball**!'' the NE man then expelled a large fireball that heated the air around them. The fire ball that came from the Root Anbu sped towards a standing still Naruto.

With the jutsu heading his way, Naruto held up his free right hand. ''Wind Barrier,'' the blond mouthed as the winds around him gathered to form a shield in front of him, his hand holding it firm and manipulated the jutsu to his liking.

The flames of the jutsu that was sent towards Naruto clashed with the Wind barrier. The flames hit a wall and were unable to break past the wall Naruto had created. The flames gathered in front of Naruto like a wave, heating up the temperature around him.

Root Anbu 4 then appeared behind Naruto, slightly above ground: his right foot wailing towards Naruto's skull, his left foot was left slightly above ground to be used for support when he lands down.

Naruto showed no surprise to the attack, he wasn't facing a single opponent after all. The left hand holding the sword of the Thunder God, blurred behind him. The kick that was coming towards him collided with his wrist. Time slowed down slightly as Root Anbu 1 appeared at his exposed right side: Naruto's right hand was still positioned in front of him; holding firm against the Fire Ball, his left hand was occupied with the kick.

The Anbu was leaning toward him a little, with both his hands holding on firm to his blade. The blade was swung in a downwards slash. The slash was aimed to cut his right hands

In this situation, Naruto didn't have the time to think. Thinking would only cut down his time to react. In this bind situation, Naruto couldn't think much given that his mind was focused on two other things, that is when both Danzo and Sasuke were not included.

**''Wind Explosion**,'' Naruto did that jutsu again, and everything around him was repelled to a few feet away from him. The flames dispersed in front of him and both Ne men who'd attacked him were forced back.

He was thankful that he already had a wind jutsu acted to help supplement the jutsu. If it wasn't because of that, Naruto wasn't sure it would've been enough to protect him against the swing that threatened to cut through his right hand.

'This will become nasty if I don't step up to the next level,' Naruto thought looking at his opponents. Rushing into anything wasn't gone get him results, but he needed to take measures against the enemy as it appears that it wasn't going to allow him to leave this place on one piece. Well, he'd trained for such situations.

Naruto wasn't allowed to dwell further into his thoughts as Root Anbu one lunged at him from the left side. The Anbu leaped into the air before reaching him. Naruto twisted to the left to face the Anbu directly while still holding the Sword of the Thunder on his left hand. The Root man swung his blade in a downward slash that was aimed straight on top of Naruto's head. With the swing coming down at him, Naruto drew as much force as he could muster on his left hand while he placed the blade above him to block the slash.

Electric static sparkled when the two different swords clashed in a power struggle. The Root pressed down on trying to cut his blade in half. However, Naruto didn't budge: his blade held on firmly without even breaking. As the swords continued to push each other, Naruto held out his right hand and in a second, a small **Rasengan** formed on his palm.

Naruto pushed the **Rasengan** towards the man slightly above him. His intent was to drive the jutsu right through the Root Anbu. His opponent saw the jutsu spiraling towards his gut. The Ne agent had quick enough reflexes to leap away from Naruto to avoid the jutsu. Naruto's jutsu went towards the ground as he was unable to stop himself from the momentum that pushed him as he attempted to hit his opponent with the Rasengan.

The Rasengan hit the ground in front of Naruto in a small boom that caused some debris to pick up.

As Naruto picked himself, the five Root Anbus flashed around all his sides, surrounding him. Their weapons were brought out and held tightly in anticipation for the slaughter they thought to deal on to their foe.

Naruto looked at Danzo, before speaking. ''Do you desire the mantle of Hokage that much that you're willing to manipulate the Fire Lord and sacrifice some of Konoha's people?''

There were times when the village was threatened, yet Danzo did nothing. It can't be taken away from the war hawk that he really does love Konoha with all his heart. The man just had a demented way of showing his love to Konoha. Naruto guessed the reason the Sandaime was even willing to allow the war hawk to continue living was because he knew the 'cripple' would always protect Konoha, no matter what.

However, in his own way of protecting the village, Danzo was willing to sacrifice some people of the village to meets his objectives. As Itachi told him, the Root Anbu were 'programmed' to speak the language of protecting Konoha. Almost everything they do is for Konoha's safety. They each and speak of protecting Konoha. Like Danzo, they would even go as far as to kill Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, given orders by the war hawk. And they would never question his orders.

They simply did what they were ordered without questions...

''I do what I must to protect, Konoha,'' Danzo responded simply. ''But I don't have time to explain myself to you: you are just a tool that has forgotten what it is supposed to do.''

Naruto was a weapon, a tool that was supposed to be used by Him for Konoha's protection; however, things weren't in that manner. Naruto was running about without a collar on his neck: that was just unacceptable. A tool was supposed to have a collar and kept in its safe cage, only to be released when it was needed. Danzo swore he would correct this, even if it meant taking the Kyuubi away from Naruto and sealing it inside one of his agents.

If he did things in that manner, then he could have a powerful loyal weapon. His Root were perfect tools and did whatever they were told, no matter how much power they gained, they would still be loyal to him. He had trained them to insure that they were loyal till their outlived their usefulness.

''I see,'' Naruto said before exchanged hands holding his blade - he now held the sword on his right hand. ''I'm afraid I will stand in the way. I've no intensions of killing you, but if I capture you, I will send you back to Konoha, after I've extracted the evidence needed to prove your sins.''

Danzo merely snorted silently. He didn't even have the words to respond to Naruto. ''Finish this quickly,'' he ordered his men.

Before the five Root Anbus surrounding him could carry out their order, Naruto was quick to act in response to Danzo's order. Crouching down, Naruto stabbed the ground in front of with his blade. **''Lightning shock**!'' electric static sparkled from the ground, around Naruto, and spread in all directions. The jutsu was evidently going to catch the Root Anbu. Due to their quick reflexes, all five leaped back a bit from Naruto to avoid the blast of electricity. The Anbu escaped into the trees, leaving Naruto alone in a field of electricity, but it quickly died down with the targets gone.

Naruto pulled out his blade from the ground and turned around on reflex as Root Anbu 4 blurred to the sight behind him. The root Anbu had a kunai on his right hand; it was held on a reverse grip. He didn't take any second to lunge at Naruto with the kunai posed straight at Naruto's head. The blond parried the kunai slash with his blade, just in front of his face.

He pushed the Anbu back since he had the bigger weapon. Without giving the Root 4 time to go on the offense again, Naruto raised his blade from the right. He leaned forward a bit and swung his blade downwards at the opponent's right shoulder. The Root Anbu parried the swing with his kunai to avoid being cut. Now, Naruto had put so much force in his swing that his blade cut through the kunai like scissor cut through a paper.

The Root Anbu quickly leaped away from Naruto to avoid the being cut through his shoulder.

Naruto didn't allow the man to get away from him, he lunged straight at the man, but he was forced to halt his movements when Root Anbu 2 appeared behind the Root 4. His hands blurred into hand seals. **''Earth Style: Mud Bullets**!'' the Root 4 ducked under when the mud bullets were being spat straight at Naruto. The Root Anbu shot several of the mud bullets into Naruto's location.

The mud bullets reared into the air, cutting through the resistance of the wind in fast speeds that needed trained eyes to track.

Since there were many of the bullets, Naruto couldn't dodge them all at once. If he attempted dodging them, he would only end up with holes around his body. The bullets were coming fast enough to do more damage. They may not be stronger than the wind bullets but they were still dangerous.

Naruto pointed the tip of his blade towards the incoming wind bullets. **''Lightning barrier!''** a wall of electricity sparkled in front of the blade, spanning considerable height and width. The wind bullets reached the barrier Naruto had erected, and upon contact with it, they turned into ash.

While Naruto was still holding his blade, keeping the barrier activated, Root Anbu number 1 and 5 appeared behind him in a flash. Naruto cursed when both leaped into the air while doing a 360 spin. The Root 1 was on his left while the other was on his right. The former spun around in midair and lashed a brutal high kick towards Naruto with his right foot while the ratter launched his own kick with his left.

Both kicks were aimed at Naruto's head.

Naruto only cursed himself for leaving his back unprotected. He was forced to push his barrier further away from him and towards the Root Anbu who'd spat out towards him. The wall moved towards the Root, vaporization any living thing that stood in the way. The wall of lightning didn't reach the Anbu though; it dispersed before it could do any damage.

At the same time: the two kicks that were charged at Naruto, all managed to hit him straight into the head. Naruto winced as both kicks collided with his head. It definitely hurt like hell. Before Naruto could take flight, being carried by the force of both kicks, the Root Anbu 1 yanked his right foot, while he'd taken off to the air because of the kicks.

Naruto was flung to the other side by the Root Anbu. He flew towards the direction of the greenly trees. He'd been thrown into the air with so much force that he wasn't able to regain his balance quickly.

Anbu Root 5 then appeared above Naruto while he was still heading towards the trees. The Anbu was facing downwards when he appeared above him, and then then his right foot was swung down at his chest. Naruto put both his hands in an x formation to block the kick. Despite putting a defense, Naruto was still sent crashing down the ground.

The blond hit the ground with a resounding boom. The kick had hit him with a considerable amount of power and force. Gravity didn't help matters either. A small crater was formed on the ground due to Naruto's crash. The blond was quick to recover from the assault, and wasn't hut. Crashing down the ground did hurt, but he sustained no noteworthy injuries.

Naruto grabbed the hilt of his blade firmly, and stood up. He was again put on the defensive because Root Anbu 3 lunged at him with a high right footed kick that came onto his right side. Naruto held out his right hand to block the kick. The kick collided with his left hand and pushed him off-balance.

Anbu 4 blurred into his sight just in front of him. The Anbu Root 3 was still positioned on his right side after kicking him. Naruto wasn't given much time to do anything as the Anbu 4 was already going through hand seals. **''Wind Style: Wind Dragon!''**

Naruto braced himself when the green eyed wind dragon formed in front of him. It was much bigger than him and being a wind user, Naruto knew it wouldn't be healthy for his body if he allowed the full waves of the dragon to cut through him. He held out both his hands together as the wind dragon reared towards him, roaring with intent to cut through his flesh.

The jutsu hit Naruto dead on and sent him flying backwards towards more trees. As soon as the wind jutsu hit him, it was quickly dispelled. Another Root Anbu flashed above him while doing hand seals. **''Wind Style: Great Wind Breakthrough!''**

Powerful gusts of wind picked up above the unsuspecting blond. Naruto cursed again. In this position, he couldn't do much to shield himself against the gusts that threatened him. The powerful gusts of wind crushed Naruto under their force, sending him crashing down the ground, again.

As soon as Naruto hit the ground, Root Anbu 2 was already doing hand seals with Root 1 waiting behind him. The former hit the ground with both hands after doing his hand seals. ''Earth Style: Earth Prison!''

Four walls sprouted from the ground and surrounded Naruto, who was still lying down the ground after he was sent crashing by some powerful gusts of wind. The four walls locked, creating a strong prison for Naruto. The walls were somewhat twice as big as Naruto was. The only escape was above the where there was nothing blocking the sun from shining down at Naruto.

Root Anbu 1 and 3 appeared above the prison, as Naruto attempted to stand up. The two then went through hand seals before shouting their jutsu in union. **''Fire Style: Great Fire Breath!'' **

Both Danzo's men released streams of flames that charged down at the earth prison. The flames combined with each other, making a rather huge stream of intense flames that heated the atmosphere within the area. The flames gleefully filled the prison with Naruto still inside. The intense flames seemingly burning down the blond as the walls began to crumble down under the intense heat.

''This should do it,'' Anbu 1 said as he dropped down the ground watching the flames continue to burn inside the prison they'd formed for Naruto. The others then appeared behind him.

''Don't you think there is something that isn't right here?'' Anbu 4 questioned looking ahead.

Anbu 3 nodded. ''There has been no sound of screams coming out of there, and this looks to have been a little easy. Our opponent seemed to be capable to holding out his own a few moments ago and we know that he is extremely fast. Yet so far, we've not seen anything remarkable of his speed.''

This was indeed something interesting. There was little doubt that Naruto was a fast jonin. He even had the Hiraishin, and yet so far he hasn't used it at all since they started fighting. It could be because they had started working as a team and used the advantage of their numbers that things appeared easy. Nothing was certain though.

Just then, the prison that was made to cook Naruto exploded in a fury of flames. The flames spread out in all directions, forcing everyone to take steps back to avoid the spitting flames from burning them. The prison crumbled down like it was hit with a rather powerful shockwave.

Sasuke smirked when his eyes caught the sight of Naruto. He had been beginning to think that the blond couldn't do it, but he was wrong. Naruto was just getting started. He didn't know what the blond could do at his full power, nobody had that knowledge, but he was going to get glimpse of the blonde's power today. Who knows, he might even become a threat that needs to be eliminated.

With the earth prison destroyed at the flames dead, everything settled down, so did the winds and the heating temperatures.

Naruto was standing still inside a small crater. His clothes were a bit messed up, and tattered a bit. A few cuts were visible on both his hands, but he looked otherwise okay. The sword of the thunder god was strapped on his back. Despite surviving an attack that would've surely killed someone else, the blond didn't look like he'd gone through some change. Everything looked normal in his physical appearance.

From a pit that had now shattered down into dust, Naruto took several steps away from the area. He could very well sense all the Root Anbu, Danzo and Sasuke. His senses had now heightened, and everything with his abilities was enhanced. He stopped when everyone could clearly see him and held out his right hand, staring into its palm, he thought, 'This mode will only last for a few moments given the low magnitude of wind around here.'

If the wind wasn't strong, then his armor wouldn't last as long as he wills it to. He'd taken some improvements in the time he spent within the Wind country. He found a way to use the jutsu in an area where the wind wasn't strong; however, he had to sacrifice so much of his chakra to keep the wind armor for a given time. In an area where the wind was strong, he didn't have to burn much of his chakra to keep the armor.

Naruto looked at Danzo, who was standing on top of a tree branch, away from him. His dogs were still standing beside him, looking ready for combat. Sasuke was still nearly by, five trees away from Danzo - he'd changed spots, no doubt he was keeping his left eye on the war hawk to ensure that he doesn't do anything.

Before Naruto could speak, his opponents flashed around him. They again were surrounding him. This time, they appeared to be in the mood for talking, ''I was wondering how things appeared to be easy. Still, it is a surprise to me that you survived our last attack. Normally, that would put anyone out of commission.'' Root 4 spoke in that monotone that all Anbu favored.

Under normal circumstances, Naruto should have at least suffered some burns because of those flames that hit him. He was put inside a pot of intense flames, how was he not hurt? The only wounds he seemed to have suffered are the bruises he received from the wind dragon that hit him head on.

''I'm not into exhibitionism, so I'll make this quick,'' Naruto responded in a calm and relaxed tone. You wouldn't even figure that he was surrounded by five Root Anbus who'd nearly burnt him, alive.

Naruto held out his right hand in a horizontal position. **''Wind Cutter!**'' Naruto did a swift and fast spin. The Anbu had been quick to make a run for it when they sensed something bad to happen. The Ne men weren't the only ones to make a run for it, even Danzo and Sasuke made a run for it.

Although they'd sensed that something had happened, the Root Anbu hadn't seen what had actually happened when Naruto spun. Sasuke and Danzo were able to see everything because of their doujutsus.

It took a few seconds, but it happened. Everything that was standing within a 50m radius was cut down. All the trees, everything that was standing, they all fell down the ground after being cut down.

''What the...?'' Root Anbu 5 thought with wide eyes. A simple spin that didn't even last for two seconds and the result was this? No doubt if they'd been caught they would have been cut down too. Reflexes and shinobi instincts had been the savior of the day.

All the Root Anbu all jumped down to the ground on their feet - they still surrounded Naruto. They couldn't stay on the trees since they'd been cut down by Naruto. To think he would be able to do that and make it look so simple...

Naruto then suddenly blurred out of sight. Eyes widened at the speed. They didn't see anything. What they did know was that he'd disappeared from his spot. That was just some speed that was remarkable. Danzo couldn't even keep track of it with his implanted Sharingan. He didn't think that Naruto would be this fast. He was positive that the blond wasn't even using the Hiraishin.

''You are the leader of this group, no?'' Naruto suddenly said after he appeared in front of the Root Anbu 3. The man widened his eyes since he didn't feel or sense anything. He had not even known the blond was there before he opened his mouth to speak.

The man quickly tried to act, but Naruto's right fist crashed onto his gut. The man winced, clutching his gut as he fell down the ground on both his knees. Naruto didn't allow him to hit the ground though. In a swift movement, he spun around to his left. His return was on the right and his right foot was raised high enough to catch the falling Anbu. The kick hit the man straight on his chest in a brutal manner. A few cracks were heard as the man coughed up blood.

Naruto yanked the man's right hand, with his left hand, before he could be flown away by the force of his brutal kick. Moving quickly before others could intervene, his right hand found its way onto the man's neck. He forcefully slammed the man down the ground.

The crash to the ground was brutal, and Naruto insured the head first hit the ground to knock out the man.

Naruto stood up as the Root Anbu 5 lunged at him from the left. Given his heightened senses, Naruto could feel everything that was happening within the same 50m radius. When the Anbu blurred into existence on his left side, Naruto simply stood still without even turning to face the Anbu.

The man came in high with a right foot kick aimed at his back. But the kick didn't do anything to Naruto. It merely rebounded off, sending the man flying away from Naruto. The armor wasn't just for offense and speed, it had amazing defensive capabilities. When other people say they had the ultimate defense, Naruto could boast about having the ultimate offensive and defensive jutsu.

In his mind, Wind was the most powerful of the elements. He could manipulate lightning and fire, but none of them were like wind. The element could be silent or loud as a Tsunami. Fire was strong, but with flames, it was always with a bang. Perhaps he favored wind the most because it was his natural affinity. Either way, wind was still the sharpest element in his view.

**''Lightning Style: Thunder Bolt**!'' a bolt of lightning was released by Root Anbu 2, speeding towards Naruto in blinding speeds. Naruto then swiftly took out the sword of the thunder God. He swung his blade towards the lightning jutsu. A wave of lightning collided with the thunder bolt, and the jutsus canceled each other in a small explosion.

Ne 1 then rushed at Naruto from behind. Once he reached the blond, the Ne man spun around in an attempt for a spinning kick that was aimed at Naruto's back. The kick just phased through Naruto like was intangible.

'After image?' the Ne man thought after he didn't feel any contact with Naruto.

Naruto blurred into existence behind the Anbu with the Sword of the Thunder God firmly on his right hand. Before the Ne agent could respond to his presence, Naruto drove his blade through the man's right shoulder. Lightning burst forth from the blade. The sparkle of lightning engulfed the Root Anbu's whole body.

''Guh!'' the Anbu let loose of a loud shriek because the lightning was shocking him, literally. Despite the obvious scream of pain coming from the Anbu, Naruto didn't remove his blade from the Anbu.

Anbu 5 went through hand seals before slamming both his hands to the ground. **''Earth Style: Quick Sand!**'' the ground beneath Naruto shook slightly as the ground began to sink. The screaming Anbu managed to pull all his strength before grabbing his left hand to keep him from doing anything.

Naruto's feet became trapped within the sand from down to his knees, keeping him immobile. 'Hmm?' Naruto looked down at the sand, it was sticky. It was impressive that it could hold down his wind armor. His senses went off when he felt a chakra spike from his right side. He quickly looked to the side while his blade was still in the flesh of the Anbu he'd pierced.

Anbu 4 was going through hand seals. He slammed both his hands down the ground. **''Lightning pillars**!'' pillars of lightning formed around Naruto and the Anbu 1. Lightning currents then joined together, creating a squire prison of lightning. Naruto was trapped within the prison, his second prison since the battle started. But this time he wasn't alone, and his movements were sealed.

Root Anbu 2 then appeared above the prison, going through hand seals. ''**Suiton: Water Gun**!'' The man spat out a stream of water that moved towards the lightning prison. Water plus lightning didn't actually mix together. The likely outcome was pain to Naruto. Seeing the water coming towards him, Naruto slammed the man holding his left hand down the quicksand. The blade then went further through the man, eliciting a shriek from the man.

It was still a surprise to Naruto that the man was still conscious.

More lightning came forth from the blade eliciting a terrifying scream from the Anbu. It only lasted a second as everything went black in his world due to extreme pain. Another second passed and the lightning prison disappeared from existence. The only thing that hit Naruto was the water gun. However, the water gun was repelled from Naruto, towards the Root Anbu. The Anbu quickly made a gateway to avoid the jutsu.

The Root Anbu 1 was still out cold beside Naruto.

That was two down and three more to go. Naruto placed his blade on its sheath on his back. He took a single step forward, but suddenly came to a halt when his body suddenly froze. He held out his right as he felt a bit worn out. ''Circulating the wind chakra throughout my body, while keeping a thin layer of pure wind, takes much more effort, concentration and a lot of my stamina…'' He thought mildly. ''I really don't have much time left...''

A clone puffed into existence beside Naruto. The clone leaped into the air before taking out a three-pronged kunai. The clone then spun around in the air. While he spun kunai were flung in all directions in numbers. In this formation, none of the Kunai's could be deflected and they couldn't predict where he would appear.

Three more clones appeared beside him and began to flash around the Kunai's that where still flying in the air.

All three remaining Anbu hit the ground after the clones started to flash around the area. Each of the clones had successfully teleported right into the path of the men before hitting them with the Rasengan. They weren't killed, just put out of commission. The clones hadn't wasted much time with the remaining three Anbu, given the unpredictability of their movements; it was easy for them to get to the Anbu.

Naruto turned his sights towards Danzo. ''Now then...'' he didn't finish speaking. In a movement of unbelievable speed that shocked even Danzo, Naruto disappeared from view and appeared in front of Danzo. Not even Sasuke was capable of following those movements with his mature Sharingan.

The two guards of Danzo were able to act on instincts: they appeared between Naruto and Danzo. However, Naruto had his secondary blade out on his right hand already. The blade was moving straight towards Danzo's abdomen. Fu, who was faster to react, had his right hand slightly outstretched, holding a kunai on the left side of Danzo. The kunai was used to block a slash that could've pierced through Danzo's gut.

Danzo narrowed his eyes dangerously at Naruto. That was just dangerous, the blond had moved in a speed he'd never seen before. Despite having the Sharingan to predict the 'future', he couldn't see anything, and even if he'd predicated the movement, he wouldn't have reacted in time to defend himself. It was even a miracle that Fuu acted quickly.

Before the Danzo or his other bodyguard could do anything, something caught their attention: the kunai that had blocked Naruto's secondary blade's strike, broke into two pieces. Naruto had coated the blade with wind chakra to sharpen it and had put a considerable amount of force behind the strike.

But wasn't all, Naruto uttered three words: ''Wind blade extension,'' the words left his lips smoothly. The basis of the jutsu was simple: what Naruto had done was extend the blade with pure wind from the tip. Given that the blade was already glaring at Danzo's gut, the close proximity made it dangerous.

Danzo widened his eyes when he saw the blade extend with his Sharingan. He quickly leaped backwards to avoid the blade piercing through his gut. If that happened, it would do much damage to him. The Ne bodyguards followed their master a distance away from Naruto.

''You bastard...'' Inoe growled when he saw blood dripping from Naruto's blade. No doubt the blood belonged to his master. Unforgivable. His eyes traced back to Danzo: just above his left hip, his clothing was cut and a nasty gash was clearly visible.

Danzo looked at Naruto with a slight glare: if he hadn't moved faster, the blow would've been fatal, and that wouldn't be good for his health, especially when he had his trump card sealed.

Naruto sighed, flicking his blade to draw away from the blood. ''I was hoping that surprise would be enough to do a fatal wound...'' he said rather calmly.

''I will not forget about this,'' Danzo suddenly said, looking straight at Naruto. He could reveal his trump card now and force things to work his way. However, he wished not to reveal his trump card at this time and certainly not at this place. Naruto was still a factor that he still needed, the Kyuubi inside of him to be precise.

But just because he was willing to let this slide and deal with other matters didn't mean that he would forget about it. No, not in this world. He just had other matters to deal with rather handle two misbehaving children.

Continuing, Danzo spoke again. ''For now, I must retreat. There is already enough evidence of my presence around here. I must leave now to deal with other matters. I will, however, pay both of you for this,'' the war hawk turned around to leave. His guards still faced Naruto.

''Do you think I'll allow you to escape?'' Naruto asked quietly. The question was definitely rhetorical. He wasn't going to allow the war hawk to escape without doing what he wished to do. He had to apprehend the war hawk before taking him back to Konoha to face judgment.

Sasuke then chose to remind everyone that he was still around. The Uchiha flashed between the two parties, his back facing Danzo's group. ''You can leave Danzo,'' the Uchiha said. ''Do not misunderstand my intensions, nevertheless. Naruto appears to be worth my time more than dealing with you. I know I'll deal with you soon, Naruto however, has shown me something interesting and I hate admitting it, but if I don't take my chance now, things may not work well for me.''

Danzo didn't say anything in response: his Anbu guards merely followed him as he took his leave. He would eventually find out what happened after he left. Though he was slightly interested in how things would fair out after what he'd witnessed from Naruto, he had to leave this place.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who seemed ready to follow Danzo to cut off his escape. The Uchiha held out his right hand, the familiar sound of chirping birds rang within the clearing. Sasuke dashed towards Naruto with the **Chidori** on his right hand.

Naruto merely stood still, a frown firmly painted across his face. As soon as Sasuke reached him from the front, his right hand moved. The Uchiha had his **Chidori **ready to pierce him through the chest like he did last time. Naruto caught Sasuke's right hand on the wrist, like Itachi did a few years ago. The grip on the Uchiha's wrist was tight, and cut off the flow of chakra, dispelling his jutsu.

Naruto looked at Sasuke rather coldly. He wasn't afraid to stare at the Sharingan; he had counter measures already set. He'd worked with the Mangekyou Sharingan long enough to know a few tricks to avoid being caught in its genjutsu. ''Do you think that this technique will get me again? You pierced me twice with it, and nearly killed me. I've seen it more than once, to know more than a single way to counter it. If you need to get me, you'll need something, little Sasu...''

Sasuke glared while trying to force his right hand off Naruto's grip, but the blond wouldn't allow him to go. The Uchiha forced a smirk on his face. ''You still remember that...I was beginning to think that you've forgotten about it since you don't talk about it.''

Naruto didn't want to play Sasuke's games: he was running out of time here. ''Last time we fought, I beat you Sasuke. What do you think will change things this time?''

''That was last time, how about we fight and see who can win?'' He relished the opportunity to beat up the blond, and force the same embarrassment he dealt to him. He'd trained hard enough with and without Danzo to believe that he could take out anyone who faced him.

Naruto shook his head, still holding Sasuke's hand firmly. ''I don't have time for this. I need to get to Danzo before he vanishes...''

Yes, things would only be worse if he allowed the war hawk to reach Konoha. Danzo wouldn't report this to Tsunade, though. No, he would keep it to himself. However, dealing with him next time will be rather difficult since the man will be more prepared.

Allowing the man to reach Konoha without being bind meant that he was going to continue doing what he was planning, and that was what Naruto had come here to stop. If Danzo went back to Konoha safely, it would mean that he failed and he would be forced to take other measures to stop what Danzo was planning from happening.

''You have to get past-'' Sasuke wasn't allowed to finish speaking. Naruto yanked the Uchiha closer to him. The distance between them was cut down to mere inches. Naruto's right knee crashed onto Sasuke's gut with unbelievable force. The one knee was enough to make Sasuke cough out things from his mouth. The pain was just unbelievable to Sasuke; it felt like his insides had been forcefully turned upside down. The Uchiha fell to the ground on his knees clutching his gut.

''You may have grown a little, Sasuke, but you're still a child,'' Naruto said before walking away from the raven head. ''I'm not saying that you're weak - you are strong, but...'' the blond didn't say anything. A few clones puffed into existence, Naruto disappeared before they did. The clones followed suit with the Root Anbus.

Sasuke was left alone, looking miserable. He was definitely seething in anger over what had just happened. It felt like Naruto had just slapped his pride in front of many eyes before kicking it into a trash bin. Sasuke never felt so furious than this. He'd failed to redeem himself.

''Well, that was embarrassing...'' a voice suddenly said behind Sasuke. The Uchiha quickly turned around to face the man who'd spoken behind him.

Sasuke glared, ''What do you want?'' He demanded in a low growl. He'd seen this man before, and he would never forget him. He'd once seen him at Danzo's hideout. This man didn't make him feel good at all; he always carried a dark aura around him. The aura always made his skin crawl. Even though Danzo was a dark bastard, he was nothing compared to this man.

Sasuke's question was ignored. ''Your pride is wounded. Why don't we follow Danzo and relief some stress off him? I know where he is...''

''Hasn't Naruto gone after him?'' Naruto could've only left in a hurry to follow the war hawk. Sasuke understood that if the blond allowed the man to reach Konoha, things wouldn't be easy for him after what had recently occurred.

''He has, but he won't find him, which is why I want us to go after him. He will be good to 'healing' your wounded pride,'' the man responded calmly, knowing that Sasuke wasn't going to refuse the offer. He knew that the Uchiha was beyond furious at the embarrassment he'd just suffered and he would take anything to re-affirm his superiority.

''Fine then; show me the way. Do not misunderstand me though; I'm only going with you to settle things with Danzo. After that, I want nothing to do with you,'' Sasuke stated standing on both his feet.

**This concludes chapter 22, and I hope the fighting scene had more detail that the previous scenes I've written. I didn't just put this scene out of a blue moon. The last chapter ended with Danzo preparing a visit to the Fire Lord, and this was just a continuation.**

**Yes, the better choice would be if Naruto had not killed the Iwagakure shinobi, but things are that way. I won't go into detail about it. But I do understand that now it will take a miracle for Naruto to be in the good books of Iwagakure. It would be cool if he was Zero, the man of miracles, then he could work a miracle. **

**I will try to move things between Naruto and Miyuki into the next level on the next chapter. The next chapter will focus much on the reactions over the events that occurred in chapter 21 and 22. The chapter will be more of an aftermath.**

**What of Danzo's fate? Well that will be revealed…**

**The Omnipresent Sage**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**Emotions**

Naruto sped through the forest of the Fire Country, rushing towards the location Shi had told him Danzo was battling with Sasuke and Juubi. He'd looked for the war hawk around the forest but couldn't find him anywhere, and so he decided to return to Konoha and just wait for him at his Root bases. But before he could get to Konoha, Shi had informed him that he'd found the Root commander's location.

Allowing Danzo to return to Konoha and continue to plan what he was planning would be a failure on his part. Naruto couldn't allow something like that to happen. It was why he'd decided that he would kill or capture Danzo no matter what, even if it meant going into his hideout to do it - Whether he would be forced to use the Kyuubi's chakra or not, he would do the deed. The war hawk was corrupt and needed to be brought to justice.

Of course killing him wasn't his only option, no, he had to be brought before the leaders of Konoha with the evidence of his actions and then he would be faced with the judgment he so deserved. Killing the old war hawk would only be a choice if capturing him seemed futile.

Naruto increased his speed as he sensed chakra usage not far away from him. He wasn't using the trees to travel, he was using the ground and only dust was left when he passed through between the trees. If anyone was watching, they couldn't even see that it was he who had passed. The speed he was using was just too fast for any eye to track, Doujutsu or not.

The terrain he'd come to view was a small clearing, trees burned on the sides, showing that Fire jutsus had been used. The ground didn't show much damage, except for a few craters that were made by a human who'd hit the ground. There were also trees cut down, evidently cut by wind jutsu.

On the right side of Naruto, the burned bodies of Danzo's personal guards were lying down on the ground, dead. One couldn't even identify them without having made contact with them first. They seemed to have been burned by something deadly and very hot. The corpses were nothing but burn marks all over.

Straight ahead Naruto saw a man he'd come to see as a real enemy, Juubi. He was with Sasuke and between them was Danzo. Sasuke looked beat up, and his clothes were torn up, cuts over his upper body since he was no longer wearing a shirt. The war hawk was in a rather pathetic condition; his face was all swelled up and bloody. His usually bandaged left hand was exposed, revealing the experiments it had gone through. Shisui's eye was also exposed.

Sasuke was holding Danzo's right arm while Juubi held the left hand. The Uchiha took notice of his presence and smirked at him. His blade was on his right hand; even Juubi was holding a blade with his right hand. Both looked at him for a moment before cleaving through Danzo's arms, cutting them from the shoulders.

Blood gushed out of the shoulders in a merry without even looking back. The war hawk fell down on the ground on both his knees; his hands were thrown right at his sides by his opponents.

Sasuke turned to him, ''How nice of you to join us, Naruto,'' the Uchiha stated. ''I'm not yet satisfied, what do you say for a rematch?'' the blade on the Uchiha's right hand was playing joyfully in anticipation. The fact that he was worn out and already had spent too much chakra on Danzo didn't seem to concern him.

''Fighting you in that condition wouldn't be fair,'' Naruto stated walking towards the enemy. ''However, if you insist, I will have no problems in beating you up. I also have a score to settle with-'' the blond was cut off when Juubi spoke.

''Sasuke, get away from Danzo!''

If Danzo was going to be killed, then he could at least take these children with him. Though he didn't like dying as he had much to do in this world, it was a reality. He'd used all his Sharingan eyes, and his body couldn't take it anymore. Even if they left him be, he would eventually die since that brat Sasuke had used him as a punching bag after Juubi had gotten rid of most of the eyes on his right hand to make things fair.

He had been infuriated that such a thing would happen to him, He, Danzo, the commander of Root, the one who held the darkness of Konoha. The boy couldn't have done the deed alone, not without the weapon intervening. He'd not thought that the weapon would also turn on him on this stage. Not after the good plans they'd made for Konoha and the world.

Curse that Orochimaru! He was probably laughing if he was watching this...

Marks began to spread across Danzo's body as the war hawk activated a seal that would destroy all secrets on his body and everything close to him. As soon as his heart gave out, an explosion would set off.

Sasuke and Juubi made their distance from the war hawk to avoid being caught in the explosion. However, Naruto ran in a blur towards the war hawk. He couldn't allow Shisui's eye to disappear within the explosion, not when Itachi had already given him the other he had in his possession. It would be such a waste to allow Danzo to destroy it.

In a matter of less than a second, Naruto was right in front of Danzo in a crouched down position to meet with Danzo's level. The Rajiin pierced through the war hawks chest, sending a bit of lightning shock throughout his body. The shock wasn't meant to kill him, no, it was done to give the heart some life, even if it was for a second.

Naruto pulled his blade from Danzo's chest before swinging it in an insane speed. He cut through Danzo's neck, separating the head from the shoulders. Just then, the explosion set off and a black cloud covered the area around Danzo. A second later, Naruto jumped out of the black cloud with Danzo's head on his hands.

He didn't wait for the explosion to end to seal Danzo's head way. He didn't want anyone getting their heads on it as it would be catastrophic if he allowed something like that to happen.

After everything died down, a large crater was formed by Danzo's suicide explosion, and the remains of his body were in the middle. ''Hoh? I didn't think you would be able to save it,'' Juubi said turning his attention to Naruto. ''Now that you have, what should I do about it?''

Of course he had no use for the eye - he was only interested in Sasuke and ensuring that a useless goat like Danzo was eliminated. But it was still fun seeing Naruto try to figure out what he may want to do with the eye. Even if the blond goes away with it, he will always keep it safe because of his perceived interest.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man; Sasuke wouldn't be a problem since he was evidently tired. Using the wind cloak was also costing him chakra. However, running at fast speeds while coming here, had brought a resistance of wind that he used. It was just like a wind that was flowing, even though he was the one disrupting it. He was able to capitalize on it, hence he still had his cloak even now.

Even if it does disperse, he could still call upon nature's chakra or the Kyuubi's chakra.

Juubi started to take slow movements towards Naruto before he just vanished out of sight. Naruto stood still and narrowed his eyes on his right. Juubi appeared in the side, and seemed happy that Naruto had tracked his movements with ease.

''What are you doing with Sasuke? And what really is your plan?'' Naruto asked, keeping calm, despite the fact that he could sense Sasuke sneaking in from behind.

''He is much more of an ally than Danzo. I can easily mold him into my liking, but I couldn't do that with Danzo. I don't have a use for tools I can't manipulate. It is quite easy to get Sasuke-kun to do what I want. All I have to do is bring up his beloved brother and perhaps even reveal a little secret I learned from Danzo,'' Juubi stated so simply like he hadn't hinted exposing one of the biggest hidden secrets in Konoha.

Naruto's look turned a bit stern. There could only be one secret and he didn't like the sound of what this man was saying. ''What are you really planning?''

''I don't know,'' he really looked like he didn't know. Naruto traced the movements of then man's eyes, despite them being pure black. ''Stop Sasuke,'' he said rather calmly. ''You'll only be beaten up and sent back to Konoha, again, if you engage in a fight.'' With those words leaving his mouth, Juubi flashed behind the Uchiha as he knew he wasn't going to listen to his words.

A quick chop on the back of Sasuke's head, and the Uchiha started falling. Juubi caught him before flipping him onto his right shoulder. ''See you soon, Naruto-kun, and next time, we will have a fair battle. I promise you.'' With that said, Juubi disappeared in a flash of black along with Sasuke.

Naruto stood still as though waiting for someone. His senses had picked up a strong chakra signature, and he could guess who the person was. Juubi must have also sensed this presence, perhaps this is the reason he left quickly without an attempt to fight him. That man always liked to do something to him, but this time he didn't.

''Orochimaru,'' Naruto said turning to face the snake Sannin - Kabuto was close by the Sannin on his right side, ''what do you want?'' He couldn't think of fighting someone of Orochimaru's caliber given his current condition. He didn't even have to forget that Kabuto was also with the man.

Trying to pick a fight now was just flat out suicide.

Orochimaru grinned slightly, looking straight at Naruto, ''Hello Naruto-kun,'' his grin widened a bit. ''It is such a joy to see you again, how have you been over these past years?'' Naruto merely remained quiet, not feeling the need to indulge the snake. ''Well, I guess you've been fine. More than fine, if I should say, given your recent activities.''

''I really do not have the time or the energy to play a guessing game with you, Orochimaru,'' Naruto stated in a rather cold tone.

While he was curious of the intensions of the Snake's presence here, he wasn't going to indulge him on his games. He really shouldn't even be speaking to this man, but there wasn't any harm done here, especially since he did not appear like he'd come here to fight. It would really be a problem if the Snake Sannin had come with the thought of fighting him.

Orochimaru merely chuckled in response, and folded his hands across his chest. ''Well, given your recent actions towards Iwagakure, I imagine you can't afford to stay in the same place once. Onoki has ordered for your assassination after all,'' though Naruto showed no reaction to this revelation, Orochimaru was certain his little ''slip'' was heard. ''You've yet to return to Konoha also, I'm sure Tsunade will be furious with you.''

Naruto had no doubt that was bound to be the case, he would face it though. He'd made a choice, and he would have to face its consensuses. He wasn't exactly sure what would await him in Konoha when he does return, however, whatever that would greet him, he would bear it.

''Danzo is also dead, and you also have to deal with that. Not to mention the Ne, who will probably be crawling within the Root bases, and I'm sure once they figure out who killed their Master, they will be coming after you. Yes, time and energy is essential for you these days,'' Orochimaru concluded with a smirk.

''I'm no under illusions about that, Orochimaru. I imagine that if I'm not even careful with vermin's like you crawling around, my existence will be cut short,'' Naruto stated. He had enemies that were out for his life, and he would need to be careful if he is to see his dream through. Well, he had allies to watch over his back, so that was good for him.

''I'd be surprised if you were under illusions,'' Orochimaru said. ''I have an offer for you...''

''I'm not interested,'' Naruto was quick to say. It was naturally that he doesn't even think about it. Nothing good was going to come out with indulging the devil with whatever he'd planned.

Orochimaru merely widened his smirk. ''But you don't even know what I want to offer you.'' Of course, the leader of Otogakure had expected such a response from the blond. He was the devil in the eyes of many, and as such, Naruto saw him as an enemy.

''It doesn't matter,'' Naruto responded firmly. ''I'll not make a deal with you. Whatever you're going to offer me, it will require for me to pay something, and you an enemy, Orochimaru - I should be thinking of killing you.''

It would prove difficult though, the snake Sannin felt much more powerful than before. It made Naruto a little anxious, but he didn't show it as Orochimaru would no doubt try to make use of it.

''I was going to offer you my help with the perfect weapon, Juubi as he now calls himself. You see, I made him and I know everything about him. When you've made your choice, search for me, and then we will talk,'' Orochimaru stated with a wide grin planted across his face.

''What makes you think that I'll come to you for help, Orochimaru?''

Orochimaru chuckled as turned around to leave with the silent Kabuto. ''Because I know you will.'' The snake Sannin then disappeared from Naruto's sight along with Kabuto. He held all the keys with Juubi and if Naruto wanted to deal with him, he would've to come to him for answers. He didn't know Naruto's full potential, but he knew Juubi was a freak when it came to power.

Naruto shook his head; he hadn't foreseen such a meeting. But it still wouldn't disturb his thoughts. Silently, Naruto went on to gather the evidence and the remains of Danzo's corpse before he too made his exit from the clearing.

**Hideout**

Itachi's blurry vision fell upon Naruto who was sitting on a chair beside his bed. Though he couldn't see it perfectly, Itachi was positive that the blond was lost in his thoughts. Well, so much was happening around the Elemental Nations and the blond was involved with many things. In the next days, when the UN conference does commence, things would only become trickier and Naruto would have much more to do.

In his current state, Itachi couldn't do much for Naruto; he was going to die anytime soon. He couldn't fight his brother in a fair fight at this time. He'd not thought that it would come to this, but the he'd also not thought that he would end up being Naruto's sensei.

Although he didn't want Naruto to know that his sickness had become much more violate inside his body, the blond was now aware of this fact. Such awareness was standing in the way of Naruto's potential; how could he fight when he, Itachi, was lying in bed with an incurable diseases, and 'blind' eyes? How could he completely focus when the only person who'd given him more than anyone and something to live for was going to die soon?

For someone like Naruto who was constantly assaulted with loneliness, keeping complete focus wasn't a possibility under such circumstances. Moreover, Naruto had never had anyone he cared for die before his eyes. Right now, the blond was surely feeling helpless. Perhaps it was why he was even considering going to Tsunade to get him help. But Itachi had made up his mind; he wasn't going to go to Tsunade.

Not by any chance, even if it would mean he could face his stupid brother.

Itachi sighed inwardly, pondering what he was going to do next. The drugs were nullifying most of the pain, but he was still feeling it, at the same time, the drugs were destroying his body since he'd been using them recklessly over the past two years just so he could keep strong for Naruto's sake. However, his body couldn't take them anymore.

His dieses only found more strength to pull him towards death's door.

Slowly, Itachi got up from the bed, it was close to a wall - he faced Naruto while leaning against the wall for support. ''Naru-'' he was disrupted by a violent cough that pierced through his chest with some unbearable pain. Itachi didn't know whether to press his hands against his chest or mouth to stop the blood that was on a free flow from his mouth.

Shots of pain went through Naruto's heart without mercy. Rushing over to the man he saw as a brother and offer his help wasn't going to make him better. He couldn't even administer an antidote to make him better, neither could he apply any form of seal on him to make him live further with the disease still inside of him.

He was useless right now, and Itachi was eventually going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Even though he'd thought he would have to take Itachi at Tsunade for her to heal him, he couldn't do that. Itachi would never forgive him and he was sure the Godaime Hokage would watch him die. She was presumably furious with him over his recent actions and probably really emotional. If she were to see him with Itachi, she would probably tear the Uchiha apart, blaming him for his recent actions.

Itachi also didn't want the truth to come out, regardless of how much he tried convincing him that the truth would one day come out, Itachi wasn't giving up. The Uchiha Massacre secret was something that Itachi didn't want to be revealed.

Naruto stoop up from his chair and walked over to a small table, on the other side of the room. He fetched a cup of water and some pills before bringing up to the Uchiha. These pills cost a lot of money, and if it wasn't for the bounty Kisame was now collecting, he wouldn't be able to afford them for much longer. They didn't heal Itachi; they just prolonged his life for a few days.

Itachi took the small cup of water and one pill from Naruto's palm. He swallowed the pill and gulped all the water in the cup before handing it to Naruto. He didn't take the rest of the pills.

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes...

''Were you in a battle?'' Itachi asked. Since the main subject didn't want to be brought out yet, the Uchiha saw that it was best to start with other matters. Once they'd started talking, then it would come out.

Naruto nodded. ''I was in the Wind capital when Shin informed me of what Danzo had done; he had been manipulating the Fire Lord with Shisui's eye, and had now gained complete control over him. It was only a matter of time before he ordered the Fire Lord to relieve Tsunade of her duties as Hokage and get himself elected. This cause of action would make the transition 'smooth', in Danzo's sense that is.

When I heard of this, I had Shin give him the location of the cripple, and I went after him.'' Naruto explained, keeping his gaze at the bed rather than at Itachi.

It didn't come off as a surprise that Danzo would plan for something like that and would go that far to get the seat of Hokage; a seat he'd desired since the Nidaime Hokage was still alive. To anyone who'd worked with Danzo, it was no secret that the war hawk wanted to become Hokage. He'd even go as far as trying to assassinate the Sandaime to get it.

Having the Fire Lord remove Tsunade from her position means that he wouldn't have to kill some of the strong shinobi who would be of use to him. Itachi assumed that if he'd just killed Tsunade, then he wouldn't become Hokage without having control over the Fire Lord. A rebellion would surely break and Konoha would be plunged into a civil war if Tsunade was suddenly killed. a civil war would weaken Konoha and leave Konoha open to attacks, and such an end wasn't something Danzo wanted.

The current Hokage was also not someone easy to kill. If Danzo failed to kill Tsunade, then she would find out of his plans. Such a discovery would make things hard for the cripple as he would be charged with treason and death by public execution was the only punishment he was going to get.

''I'd thought he would do something like that eventually since he took Shisui's eye,'' Itachi paused for a moment to gather his energy. Even just sitting up like this and talking normally was energy consuming. Still, he didn't allow the cracks to appear. ''I hope you handled it...''

Naruto shook his head.

Itachi's brow furrowed in question to the response by Naruto, but the blond didn't seem to catch it, so he opened his mouth. ''What happened? I don't want to believe that you couldn't handle Danzo. He might be strong, but I know you are able to fight in the same level as a Kage.''

''I wasn't able to fight at my fullest potential,'' Naruto said. ''However, Danzo was eventually killed by Sasuke and Juubi. I managed to save Shisui's eye before he destroyed his own body though.''

Itachi was silent for a few moments. The new piece of information was puzzling and serious enough to worry him to death. ''What do you mean Sasuke and Juubi killed Danzo?''

''Before I fought some of Danzo's henchmen, Danzo had ordered Sasuke to fight me, but he refused saying he wanted him, Danzo, to be killed since he was no longer a use to him. After I'd dealt with the henchmen, Danzo escaped and Sasuke stood in my way.

I didn't fight him, but the seconds I wasted were enough for Danzo to escape my senses. I didn't find him until Sasuke and Juubi had ripped both of his hands from his body.''

Itachi became silent again, watching Naruto carefully. ''Is Sasuke working with Juubi?''

Naruto shook his head. ''No, not now at least. But soon, they will be working together, especially since Juubi knows the truth and will most likely tell Sasuke. He can manipulate Sasuke using this information, however, I don't know about having complete obedience from him - it would need Shisui's eye for something like that.''

Despite whatever that Sasuke might involve himself with, even if it was something catastrophic, Itachi would always love him. Naruto could never replace Sasuke, nor even compare to the young Uchiha. Even though Itachi was worried for his brother, he wouldn't show it to anyone. Since Naruto already knew that Itachi loved his little brother, he didn't need to ask if he was concerned or not.

If it was up to Itachi, the Uchiha would rather have him and Sasuke become friends and try to form this peaceful shinobi world he desires, but it wasn't about to happen. Not given Sasuke's attitude and his tendency to involve himself with dangerous people.

''What is my foolish brother planning to do now?'' Itachi mused loudly before shaking his head slightly. ''Can we assume that he has defected from Konoha?''

''That looks like it, but since no one but me knows what actually happened, he may just return to the village. However, since he has no attachments, I doubt he will return. He is mostly like to be branded a missin-nin.'' Naruto explained. It would change a lot of things in Konoha if Sasuke does end up becoming a Missin-nin.

''We can conclude that he will be told the truth behind the Uchiha massacre, if that becomes the case, he is most likely to resent Konoha.'' Itachi said managing to put some strength in his tone. ''You know what to do if that happens. In my current state, I can't do anything, and if Sasuke sees me like this, he is most likely going to hate you even more as he will blame you.''

''He already knows of my connection with you. I believe when he attempted to attack me, he wanted to get that piece of information from my head using the Sharingan. I'd already made it obvious that I would not knee to blackmail,'' Naruto stated calmly. ''I know that he will hate me even if he doesn't see you. If you...d...before Juubi finds us, he will seek nothing more than to destroy me.''

''But I trust you'll handle things...''

Naruto nodded, and spoke. ''I will have to seek out the Fire Lord to undo the damage Danzo did.''

''How do you hope to correct things?''

''I have both eyes of Shisui in my possession,'' Naruto raised his right hand above his head. Not more than a minute passed and a crow flew onto his hand. He then brought it close to his eyes - both the eyes of the crow were Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan. ''I should be able undo the genjutsu without the need to kill him.''

If it weren't for these eyes, there was no way he could 'rewrite' Kotoamatsukami within the Fire Lord's mind. These eyes would prove useful in situations like these - there was no mind controlling genjutsu they couldn't undo. The genjutsu on the Fire Lord was cast by one of these eye, but undoing it wouldn't be a bother. Without the eyes, the only choice was to make the Fire Lord disappear as he would still follow his programming even when Danzo is dead.

Well, will you look at that; the problem didn't die with Danzo...

Itachi nodded to Naruto's response; he found it to be acceptable. ''I'm glad you were able to retrieve the remaining eye, now, you just have to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands,'' the Uchiha said rather seriously. ''What else happened?''

''Orochimaru appeared,'' Naruto responded mildly. ''He said something about Juubi, and knows more about him than anyone. He offered his help, but I'm it comes with a price,'' Naruto sighed, and looked at the crow that was silent on his hand. He placed it on his right shoulder, gently as he did. ''Naturally, I turned him down.''

Itachi was surprised that Orochimaru would offer his help to Naruto, but he wasn't surprised to know that the snake Sannin had some connections with Juubi. This of course makes things a bit trickier. ''If Orochimaru has begun to make his move, you'll have to learn to control your other power if you're going to stand against your enemies and protect what is precious to you.''

Naruto nodded, ''I'll head to Kumogakure after the UN conference. I'm sure I can work something with the Raikage. If he doesn't help, I'll have to do it another way.''

Silence settled again before Naruto spoke.

''Itachi,'' Naruto's tone was rather soft. ''Are you sure this is alright?''

A sad smile plastered across Itachi's face. ''I've lived enough, Naruto. Though I've yet to fully pay for my actions in the past, my time has come. Everyone eventually dies in this world, and that makes us humans. If we cannot accept death, then we will live in fear for the rest of our lives. Worst case scenario, we will seek immortality to rid of our mortality.

I've told you before, you can't protect everyone, and you can't solve everything. You can't do anything to save me - it isn't within your power to do so. However, you must adapt to that. I couldn't protect Sasuke and Konoha at the same time, but I learned to live with my choice. Accept this, and you'll grow up.

Loved ones will die along the way, but we can't give up nor can we blame ourselves for not being able to save them. We just have to accept, and move on, carrying our dreams along with us. Death is part of the human cycle. Many die without seeing through their dreams, but they always pass on that dream to someone else.

My dream was never to bring peace to the world, but it has always been to protect Konoha. Bringing peace is your dream, and your desire to protect Konoha isn't strong as mine, but I hope that you never abandon Konoha. Naruto, life has a beginning and end. However, if you want to die happily, make your life worth living.

Even if I die any from now on, I know that you will protect Konoha, you will ''look after'' my little brother. I believe you will use Shisui's eyes for the best, and perhaps if your own power isn't enough, you can always use my power to protect what is important to both of us. For these reasons, it is okay.''

Silence reigned again, and Naruto stood up. The crow on his shoulder didn't leave. ''I'm going to see other matters,'' his tone was really sad. ''We'll talk more when I return later. Don't be sleeping, I'll make your favorite dish,'' Naruto managed to smile before walking out of the room.

Once he left the room, he found Kisame leaning against the wall within the passage; hands folded across his chest. ''Well that was touching,'' Kisame said. ''I've never sensed so many emotions in Itachi's tone like that before.''

Naruto didn't comment on those words, ''Would it be okay if you stayed around here for the time being?''

Kisame nodded.

''Thank you.''

**Konohagakure no Sato**

**Tsunade's office**

Tsunade never thought that the sight of Naruto in her office would make her blood so much that she would want more than to tear him apart. She loved him, but the urge to hurt him was so strong she couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to. As soon as Naruto appeared in her office, she didn't wait to ask anything or study his expression, anger just exploded within her.

What he'd done was giving her way more trouble than she could handle without him, Naruto, begging for mercy in the presence of Onoki. The cruel thing was that even if he did beg for mercy, Onoki wouldn't give it - he would just cut him down painfully while savoring each cut. The situation Naruto had brought was nothing short of stupidity and just playing outright dangerous.

The Godaime Hokage had never thought that she would have to deal with such things from Naruto; perhaps if it was someone brainless as Sasuke, then she would have expected such a thing. But it was Naruto, the person she'd chosen to be a representative of Konoha within other villages, her successor. She'd elected him to sell the ''brand'' that was Konoha. But now he'd disappointed her.

This only made her even more curious as to what Naruto might have been doing during the three years he was supposed to be training with Jiraiya. Somehow, Tsunade found herself putting some blame in Naruto's actions on the Toad Sage. She told herself that if Jiraiya had been clever, and insured that Naruto didn't go away, none of this would have happened.

She believed that whatever forced him to change was something he encountered during his three-years away from Konoha.

With Naruto appearing in her office in a flash of yellow, Tsunade furiously lunged at him with her right fist glowing with chakra. In mere seconds, the blonde Hokage had jumped her desk and was right in front of Naruto. There was no surprise or shock evident on Naruto's face when the slug princess blurred into his front.

Tsunade's right fist brutally crashed into Naruto's chest with such alarming speed and power that the blond was sent tumbling away towards the other wall behind him like bullet. Naruto didn't do so much as flinch as Tsunade's fist shattered some of the bones forming his ribcage. With a few broken things inside, blood freely flowed out of his mouth.

Tsunade flashed right behind Naruto and caught him with his shoulders. She twisted him around so that he could face her. Despite the blood leaking out of his mouth, and pain he was feeling, as well as Tsunade's demonic glare gazing down on him, Naruto's mask didn't slip - it was a mask of sadness that Tsunade had yet to define.

The blonde Hokage was even more furious because he didn't even try to dodge her punch, nor was he displaying anything she wanted from him. Her left hand grabbed his neck tightly and she lifted him into the air, strangling him, yet Naruto made no sound.

Tsunade's frustrations grew to a peak at the action, lack of rather. She slammed her right fist straight at Naruto's chest, again. She was rewarded by sending Naruto crashing towards the wall behind her desk, and out of her office in a blur.

Another broken wall in Tsunade's office, and the people weren't even alarmed when Naruto crashed outside the Hokage tower, bleeding rather heavily. One could say it was cold hearted to just walk past by someone who was lying on the ground with death seemingly dancing at his door, but this was Lady Tsunade's doing, as such, people just walked away like they didn't see anything.

To try to involve yourself in such matters, was only calling for trouble. Tsunade certainly had no trouble in 'destroying' anyone who disturbed her when she was letting out of her righteous fury. When such things occurred, regardless of who was at the receiving end of it, people avoided using the street and those who were within it, quickly made haste away from it.

This is why after a minute; the street a bleeding and broken Naruto was lying at was left empty.

The remaining Senju then flashed right next to Naruto. She shook her head when she caught the fact that the street was deadly silent and empty. Almost like even if there were small markets in operation, their owners had hid their stock and dug themselves down the ground to avoid her wrath.

Tsunade looked down at Naruto; she was alarmed when she saw the crimson chakra covering his entire chest in a bubbling formation. This could only mean the Kyuubi's chakra and her senses weren't off. The Godaime quickly called her Anbu to surround Naruto to restrain him if there should be the need. Five Anbus stood by Naruto's sides watching the chakra play around his chest.

After a minute passed, Tsunade realized that Naruto wasn't losing control - losing control would unleash the power of the Kyuubi upon this village and the events that occurred years ago weren't something Tsunade was willing to witness. She wasn't here when the Kyuubi attacked, but she didn't want to see it happen. The stories she heard were crippling enough.

The Fifth Hokage looked at Naruto carefully, despite a shattered ribcage, and some unbearable pain Tsunade was sure he'd experienced, he was still conscious. What alarmed Tsunade the most was the sad look on Naruto's eyes.

''Hokage-sama, I think it is just healing him,'' one of the Anbu said after he'd studied what was going on. If Naruto was losing control, then the Kyuubi's chakra would be having much more malice that would be felt all over the village. But there was only a small doze of it, and the look on Naruto's face wasn't of a man who'd lost control...

No, it was the look of a sad man.

Tsunade nodded, having made that conclusion herself, ''Get me Jiraiya, and bring him to the hospital,'' Tsunade ordered. She was sure that the Sannin was aware of what was going on. She'd smacked him when she'd read Naruto's letter and when Onoki sent her a letter. She'd sort of blamed him for everything and had put him in the hospital because of it, twice.

''Hai, Hokage-sama,'' the Anbu saluted before they all vanished, leaving Tsunade alone in an empty street with Naruto.

She kneeled down at his side and tried to touch him, but for the first time since returning, Naruto spoke to her. ''Don't, unless you wish to be burned, then you're welcome to touch me. The Kyuubi's chakra is quiet poisonous and lethal to anyone who isn't me or a Jinchuriki.''

Tsunade was taken aback by the sadness in his tone. Despite speaking so calmly, considering his condition, his tone was still sad. She'd never even seen the sad look on his eyes like that. ''How am I supposed to get you to the hospital then?''

Naruto didn't respond - he remained quite much to Tsunade's annoyance. Another minute passed and the chakra around Naruto dispersed. His bleeding stopped, but he still didn't get up. Despite the chakra performing its magic, he wasn't fully healed, and he was still feeling some pain. ''I don't particularly like the hospital and would rather rest at my house than in one of those cold beds.''

''You don't really have a choice in the matter,'' Tsunade said sternly. Her right hand found its way on Naruto's chest and both disappeared in a heap of green leaves.

**Hospital**

After stitching up Naruto and insuring that there was no grave damage on any of his internal organs, Tsunade released a breath of relief knowing that he was okay. She still covered his whole chest with a bandage as it was a procedure to be followed after sustaining injuries.

Tsunade sat beside Naruto's side, the left side of the bed, and looked at him carefully; he wasn't looking directly at her - his gaze was elsewhere. ''I recommend that you don't do anything straining for the next week or so.'' she said. ''Why didn't you dodge? I could have seriously hurt you, do you have a death wish or something?'' Her tone was now reaching the outside of the little room.

Tsunade still remembered the day he returned quite well. That day she'd lunged at him just like today, but he didn't allow her to him. He'd blocked and dodged her punch saying something about it. She'd expected him to do the same even today, but he didn't do anything. The look on his face almost seemed like he really wanted her to hit him. That the Fifth couldn't understand!

''I may have one,'' Naruto responded quiet casually. ''Besides, I have people after my head, so many people already wish for my death. I think it is better to die on your own terms than on someone's terms.''

That was just disturbing, to Tsunade that is. She couldn't even tell if he was joking or not, and the sad tone didn't even make her feel good at all. While it was indeed true that there was a bounty for his head, she didn't think he would say it so lightly.

''Are you okay, Naruto?'' Tsunade felt obliged to question before getting to serious matters.

''Yes,'' Naruto replied calmly.

Tsunade nodded, while she was still sorting her thoughts, her former teammate appeared in a puff of smoke. Jiraiya settled at the window, looking outside rather than the people inside.

''What were you thinking, Naruto? Do you know what you've done? Our relationship Iwagakure has reached a new low and I don't think I can protect you from this mess that you've created.'' Tsunade's tone was deathly stern and her gaze was rather cold.

Silence settled.

''Aren't you going to answer me Naruto?'' Impatience was the subject in the Godaime's tone. She was even close to shaking him so she could get him to respond. She wasn't going to allow him to get off the hook without giving her straight answers. Last time she'd let things slide because there was no harm done.

Tsunade was willing to confine him in Anbu cells if he wasn't going to talk. She was really tired of his attitude. She was going to make him understand that he was her subordinate and she was his 'master'. He wasn't supposed to do whatever he pleased - he was supposed to do what she ordered him to do.

Jiraiya turned his gaze on to Naruto, and shook his head. He'd not thought that Naruto would do something so reckless that would put Konoha in danger. It was even more troubling since the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage was involved in the incident. This whole mess was just one big problem the Sannin thought he wouldn't have to face.

To make things worse, Onoki was demanding compensation for Naruto's actions or he would take the incident as a symbol of a war.

''While I'm happy that you were protecting Konan's village, I still think she would've handled it herself, and it was just stupid for you to engage them. You really shouldn't have done it Naruto,'' Jiraiya added shaking his head.

''Why, Naruto?'' Tsunade demanded again.

Naruto still didn't look at either of the Sannins - he gaze went up to the toneless ceiling. ''Because I chose to and felt that it was right for me to do it. I do not doubt that Konan could've handled it, but I chose to do it.''

''What for? What good would come of something so dangerous and reckless? Has the Kyuubi started to influence your actions that you'd choose to slaughter hundreds of men just for the sake if it?'' Tsunade shouted. She really couldn't believe that in his right mind, Naruto could've done something like that. There had to be something influencing him. She'd even have Inoichi evaluate him if he wasn't saying anything concrete.

Naruto eyes fixed at Tsunade for a second before he looked back at the ceiling. ''Is it really hard for you to believe that I made a choice? Does it sound too unbelievable that you'd think that the vile Bijuu in me is the cause of all these?''

There was no doubt that the beast in him was malicious. However, not everything that went wrong was caused by the Bijuu. Humans had their own minds and were vile creatures that were even despicable to the Bijuus they called demons. When things went bad, Bijuus were blamed; humans never find fault in themselves. It was no wonder Bijuus loath humans.

''What do you expect me to think? It isn't like you to do something like that.''

She didn't deny any of it, Naruto shook his head sadly. ''The Kyuubi doesn't influence anything I do - the choice to face those people was mine, and I don't believe there is any reason I can give you that will make you understand.''

''Why don't you try us, Naruto?'' Jiraiya said sternly. ''What could've been sufficient for you to risk Konoha's safety like that? Isn't it every shinobi's, of Konoha, duty to think what is best for this village?''

Naruto pointed at his forehead; there was no forehead protector to tell he was a shinobi of Konoha. Both Sannins were quick to understand. ''What are you saying, Naruto?'' Tsunade demanded in a low growl.

''I gave up my forehead protector because not everything I do would be for Konoha. I do not go around wishing only what is best for this village. When I made my choice to face those shinobi, I wasn't thinking of Konoha. The world doesn't evolve around Konoha, and my dream is more than this village.''

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya were baffled by his response.

''Do you not care for this village, Naruto? I thought you wanted to become Hokage?'' Tsunade's tone was down.

''I care for Konoha, perhaps not as much as both of you. I've only suffered torment in this village, and despite everything, I've yet to be fully accepted by the villagers. They sti-'' Jiraiya cut off Naruto before he could finish.

''You just have to prove to them that you're a good person not the monster they thought you were. If you make a little effort to show them your goodness, everyone will smile at you,'' the Toad Sage argued.

''Jiraiya, these people have yet to recognize that what they have done to me was wrong. What you're saying is no different than telling me to apologize while I've not done any wrong. These people were wrong to what they did, and I was right saying I wasn't a monster.'' Naruto paused for a moment before continuing. ''It would take me saving this village from complete destruction for them to call me hero. Quite honestly, I have seen just how evil some people are in this village, it wouldn't be the greatest thing to have this people call me a hero.''

Silence reigned again.

''You still haven't given me your reasons Naruto. I need them before Danzo crawls out of his burrow to play his cards.'' Tsunade pressed to another matter.

It wasn't the place to tell them that Danzo was dead, and telling them now would only complicate things further. ''I was thinking of Konan, my image and the UN, what would happen to Konoha because of my actions wasn't on my mind. Well, you could say that I was being selfish...''

''That isn't the mindset of someone who is being prepared for being Hokage, and certainly not the attitude and choice Minato would have taken if he was in your position,'' Jiraiya muttered quietly.

For the first since Jiraiya appeared in the room, Naruto looked at him. ''Must you always bring the Minato card?''

Jiraiya's body stiffened under the cold stare Naruto was giving him.

''I'm not Minato, and will never be like him. Saying such things makes me question a lot of things, Jiraiya. If you wanted me to become like your prized student, you should've taken your responsibilities as godfather seriously. Oh, I forget, you completely discarded them,'' Naruto stated rather strongly. ''Dammit, now I'm all worked up.''

''That wasn't necessary, Naruto,'' Tsunade sent a chilling glare at the blond Jinchuriki.

''Then stop comparing me to Minato. My father is dead and he died a hero to his beloved village. I'm not his replacement or anything.'' Naruto said shaking his head. ''It really irritates me when you say stuff like; ''your father would be disappointed''. If he didn't want to be disappointed then he shouldn't have died and left me alone to face what I faced or at least he should have chosen someone to take care of me.''

''Saving the village was his priority, and he did leave your care to Jiraiya,'' Tsunade quickly realized that those weren't the wise words to say, especially since her former teammate abandoned Naruto. ''Well anyway, the council has decided to remove you from your position, you are also suspended from doing any shinobi activities and you're also forbidden from leaving the village until this matter is settled.''

''Staying locked inside the village isn't something I can do, but I will happily leave my duties per your orders,'' Naruto responded calmly.

''It wasn't a request, Naruto. Staying in here is also for your own good. Have you already forgotten that there are people after your life?''

''I've not forgotten, but I still won't be confined in the village,'' he had things to do. The UNA conference was only pushed further by four days given all that has been happening, and some members had said they wanted more time - he needed time to prepare.

''If you disobey, you'll be charged with insubordination and I might even have your chakra sealed,'' Tsunade threatened.

Naruto was silent for a few moments. ''I'll risk it, and I'm truly sorry for it, but I can't do what you wish of me,'' Naruto stated apologetically.

''Don't even think about it Narut!'' Tsunade shouted. But Naruto didn't listen to her; he disappeared in a flash of yellow. ''Go after him Jiraiya!'' the Godaime ordered.

''Calm down, hime,'' the Toad sage started calmly. ''He could've gone to Uzu, Kiri, or even the Snow country. He could really be anywhere, and I can't find him just like that.''

''Summon the toads - they'll tell you where he is. Don't you understand the seriousness of this matter Jiraiya?''

''I understand,'' Jiraiya said with a nod. ''However, just like last time, they won't tell me. Not unless I trick Gamachicki,'' but doing something like that was a great sin; one he wasn't willing to commit.

**Wind capital**

Finally, Miyuki had been able to get some people to help her out in managing the country - people she trusted. She wasn't thrilled about the idea of hiring people who she couldn't trust and working with them would always bring much concern in her. But if she was working with people she trusted, she could count on them to do their job and never disappoint her. Then again, the people you trusted the most are most likely to be the ones to hurt you.

The world was just cruel in that way. She'd give you friends to be happy with and then she'd make them hurt you so much that you want nothing to be crush them or just make them disappear from your sight and never appear again. Perhaps fate was just one sadistic whore who got off in peoples' miseries.

It wouldn't be much of a surprise if that were revealed to be true. There were so many people who suffered, and some were just innocent people who knew nothing. Miyuki had often heard that there was a saying in the shinobi world, amongst shinobi, there were no innocents. She didn't know how true that was, but amongst them civilians, there were truly honest people who didn't deserve what the world brought to their lives.

But it was life...

Miyuki shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts that were mercilessly attacking her from all sides. She feared if she continued to think like this, that whore called fate would try to put on some misery upon her life, and she didn't want to deal with any of that.

The Wind Lord stopped walking when she'd reached her sitting room; the first thing she saw was blond hair and she quickly recognized that it was Naruto - he was the only person with blond hair who could ''break'' into her living quarters at this time of the day.

He'd rushed off this morning saying that there were some things that he needed to handle. It was already evening now, so she guessed he'd solved everything already.

Miyuki continued with her steps; she walked over to the couch and sat down next to him, on his right. ''Everything well handled, I presume,'' she said smiling.

Naruto nodded. ''Yes, but more problems have piled up that it bothers me,'' he said. Well, things weren't exactly handled smoothly, but it was handled nonetheless. Danzo was no more, so there was no need to fear him doing anything since the problem disappeared along with his existence.

Problems with Konoha had risen to such a level Naruto hadn't thought they would reach. It was very worrying and would become problematic if it wasn't handled smoothly. However, Naruto wasn't going to step into the village any time soon. Well, he would have to go there to take some things from his house, but he wouldn't reveal his presence to anyone.

''You have been dealing with a lot lately,'' Miyuki said, looking in thought. Yes, if it was not sadness strapping him between her fat thighs, it was him trying to solve some matters that were troubling. A lot was truly piled onto his life, and Naruto didn't help himself by thinking of them too often.

Naruto nodded, a bit sadly. ''I've also been putting some pressure on you, and it is quite inconsiderate of me. You also have your own problems, but I've been selfishly putting my burdens on your shoulders.''

As it seems, whenever he had problems, he always came here to seek some comfort from the woman. He couldn't deny that her presence was warm and comforting, and that he enjoyed it. But she also had a country to lead; she had her own problems to solve. It was always about him and his problems. Naruto didn't want for it to be like that anymore.

''It is quiet alright, Naruto,'' Miyuki said calmly. ''There more I spend time with you, there more I realize that my problems are nothing compared to yours. Besides, you've had it rough for too long without anyone, so it is okay.''

Naruto shook his head. ''I will accept that everyone has problems, and others' are way bigger than others, however, I cannot compare my problems to you, Miyuki. I'm a shinobi and you're a normal human, a civilian. You cannot weigh my problems because they aren't made for you. What you have is enough for you,'' the blond explained lightly. ''For now, let us not talk about any problems.''

''Are you sure?''

Naruto nodded. ''You already know my dreams, and many more things about me; tell me more about you - I've learned quiet a lot since we first met, but I still don't know what your dream is in this world...''

This would help him temporarily forget about other things that were gathering around his head. He'd said he would return to Itachi later on, but he wasn't going to do that. He couldn't deal with that now, not after everything. Things at Konoha had just spiraled out of control; he had not thought it would turn out like that. Knowing Itachi's wish for him to protect Konoha, it wouldn't be easy for him to deal.

Shisui's eye was also given to him for Konoha's protection, nothing else. He had dreams, but Itachi had said the owner of the eye had trusted it to him for Konoha's safety and he wasn't going to use it for anything other than Konoha's safety.

Naruto shook his ridding of such thoughts, he looked at Miyuki as she was busy thinking. Her eyes then fixed with his own, neither broke away from the eye contact before the wind lord blinked and spoke. ''I want to make this country a safe home to its people and make sure that no woman are abducted then sold to slavery. I wish for this country to be also prosperous under my rule.

In the previous years, the Wind hasn't done well compared to the other Great countries. The Fire, Cloud, Water, and Earth all have strong villages within them. Sunagakure has always been the weakest amongst the Great five. My father's choice to cut off funding to Suna further diminished the country's fortunes. I want to make this country great, I want Sunagakure to rise, be in equal terms with other Great villages. If that becomes a reality, my own position will be the strengthened, and this country will thrive.''

Naruto kept quite as he absorbed all that Miyuki had said. He smiled. This might work well for him. ''It is going to take a lot for Sunagakure to surpass the likes of Kumogakure, Iwa and Konoha. The Mist has suffered greatly because of the civil war that saw many of its strong perished, so it isn't as fearsome as it was.''

Miyuki nodded. ''I'm not even sure if we can surpass any of those villages. I'm not even a shinobi to begin with and Gaara is still learning, so am I. Right now, we are focused to rebuilding; strengthening the village will be another task that seems to be further away from my grasp. Even so, I feel that I can reach it.''

''Both Kumo and Iwa possess highly strong Jinchurikis. To be quite honest, as a Jinchuriki, I wouldn't fare any better to the four. They know how to control the power sealed in them, while I know little. The Jinchuriki only make the villages strong. Suna only has a Jinchuriki who is by no means, alas the Bijuu they have is the weakest.

It is not a problem though. I believe that Bijuus are not all that tips the balance of power. With or without a Bijuu, humans can become powerful. Konoha hasn't actually used its Jinchurikis as weapons, but it has always remained the strongest of the great five hidden villages.

It is possible for Suna to surpass even the likes of Kumo who have what they call perfect Jinchurikis.'' Naruto stated, like he'd been thinking of this for a long time. It actually surprised Miyuki that he could say so much about this matter given that she'd only told him just now.

''It suddenly feels like this is your dream not mine,'' Miyuki remarked lightly with a warm smile.

Naruto returned the smiled before responding. ''You know my dream is to bring peace into the shinobi world. For that to happen, there are certain terms that must be met.''

''What do you mean by that?''

''Although I was born in Konoha and my parents died protecting it, Konoha is rotten. Many of its past actions have been unjust. Although Tsunade tries her best to make it clean, it is still not enough. When you have held the belt of champion too long, you become arrogant at a certain point and start believing that you're unbeatable. With that, the voice becomes even louder and you start to feel like a king.

When that happens, you tend to like hearing the sound of your own voice.

The UN isn't formed by strong villages only, there are weak villages who can't even be put on the same ring as the Great villages. Imagine, a small village proposes an idea, and a strong village like Konoha doesn't like it, who do you think will win? It is simple, strong villages get what they want. If Iwa and Kumo were to become members, the shift of things would turn to their favor.

Although I set up the UN in a way that makes all equal, and only I and the chairwoman with enough power to stop any unfairness from happening, I can't always stop everything. If Konoha does something that it isn't supposed to do, something that isn't aligning with the laws of the UN, who will punish it if it is the strongest bull in the ring? I can't go against a village by myself.

However, if someone stronger than Konoha steps into the ring and holds a whipping stick, Konoha will do what it is required of it because another strong man has entered.

This strong man in reality will have to be both Kiri and Suna. It will take many years to make Sunagakure equal in power with others; however, if I can combine Kiri, Suna as well as Amegakure and make them one, they will stand high above all other Great villages. I trust in Mei's kindness and Gaara's sense of right and wrong stick by what is good.''

A few moments of silence passed.

''You said a lot of words,'' Miyuki said. ''But I understand what you're saying. However, the trick would be making the villages stand in the same line.''

Naruto merely smiled in response, ''I know Gaara and Mei will like each other,'' he simply said.

''You sound confident,'' Miyuki said. This really seemed to be working well to uplift his spirits. He really seemed more down than usual a few minutes ago. ''So my dream is a possibility, you can make it happen.''

''No, not I alone. You, Mei, Gaara and Konan will make everything a reality.'' Naruto responded. ''But it does seem like your dream is going to be a reality soon, and with that, you'll be at peace since you've achieved what you desire.''

His dream was still blurry. The plan to challenge Iwa, Kumo and Konoha may back fire. If either Suna or Iwa become stronger, the strongest will feel intimidated and they'll see it as a challenge. In order to affirm the position as the strongest a war is most likely to break out. It would be catastrophic and a failure for his part if something like that happened.

Miyuki shook her head in response to Naruto's words. ''Well, I have another dream. Without achieving it, I'll never be at peace even if the wind country does become prosperous.''

''What is it?''

''Love,'' Miyuki said. ''I want to experience love and have a family of my own. It is a bit lonely to be without someone to love in such a way that it hurts. I haven't had many experiences with men, and my current position doesn't offer many opportunities to meet nice men. I haven't been able to meet anyone nice, and If things continue like this, I might even get to my thirties still being single!'' she looked quite horrified by the thought.

''I'm honest wounded,'' Naruto said, a bit in amusement. ''Aren't I a nice person, and I happen to like you. For you to discard me as lover is quite hurtful. It hurts so much, I just want to go to my room and cry,'' the blond gave a mock hurt look face and actually stood up like he wanted to leave.

Miyuki grabbed his right hand, halting his movements. ''Do you really like me? I mean, we've hanging out for some time now, but you've never shown any intent...'' her eyes were staring deep into his.

Naruto merely smiled in response. He didn't think saying yes was the right response, and so he settled for smiling.

Miyuki stood up and became level with him, a few inches separated them. ''Don't freak out okay?'' Naruto still remained quiet.

Eternal seconds passed as the distance between their lips disappeared. Their lips just touched softly as each of their breaths washed over the other. The desire was there, the urge to hungrily devour those soft looking lips was there, yet Naruto caged it down, for a second that is.

Finally, the urge became too much for both and their lips danced a bit, slowly - their first real kiss. Naruto savored the smoothness of Miyuki's lips as his own rubbed slowly against hers. Her lips felt deliciously smooth, fueling the fire in him; her breath gave off a certain scent that was just intoxicating to his senses. He wanted nothing more than to hold her closer and continue with it, unfortunately, it wasn't to be - Miyuki pulled away.

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds.

Miyuki smiled at him. ''Well that was just wonderful,'' she said happily.

This wasn't the first time Naruto had kissed a woman before, but it felt like it was first. Her felt needing more of it, like he wasn't quite satisfied with a few seconds. The feeling was alien to his body, yet his mind was able to define it quite perfectly...

**There goes chapter 22. Much of the next chapter will be staged within Uzushiogakure as the final preparations for the UN conference will be made and the guests will be arriving. **

**Yes, I acknowledge that Tobirama's blade was ridiculously underpowered in the last chapter and I will correct that in the next chapters. **

**The Ne have not been forgotten.**

**Well, a new way has opened up for Naruto and Miyuki's relationship. **


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

''You look like you just had the worst night of your life,'' Miyuki said: She was sitting across Naruto around a table while they ate their breakfast. The look on his face was somewhat miserable and it didn't give her a good feeling.

He has been pretty down since he came back from his activities. But she had already heard from Gaara that Naruto was wanted in Konoha for his recent actions. Apparently, he had run away from home. She could guess this was what was troubling his young mind. Even she wouldn't be happy if she was forced to leave her home because they didn't agree with her choices.

Konoha didn't agree with what Naruto was doing - had done. They feared for their own safety and really didn't want to do anything that could spark a war - which if ignited they would surely win. Konoha was still the strongest Hidden village despite its recent troubles. However, if other villages do gang up on them, they would lose. The village wasn't too big on allies after all.

Allies; Naruto had many of them. He could be accepted as a shinobi at any village he chose. If she was that kind of a person, she would have made a suggestion that he just join Sunagakure or stayed by her side. But she wasn't like that. She cared for his happiness and wasn't all too greedy to pounce on him just because he was having a few problems with his home.

''Is it really that bad?'' Naruto asked tonelessly.

The expression on his face was just like of one who has been deprived of sleep for at least a week. But he had only spent only a single night sleepless. For someone like him, one night without sleep did nothing to his physical health or mental health. He wasn't a normal human after all. Being a Jinchuriki, though it made his life a living hell in hell, had its benefits.

Today was the day he had to start with the UN conference. He should have been at Uzushiogakure by now to welcome his guests. But he was still here, trying to clear the gloomy cloud that was following him around.

''Compared to the cheerful person you'd become when in my presence, you look awful,'' she said it so bluntly, no sparing anything. It wouldn't do well to hide anything. Besides, Naruto was just like that; it was the kind of response he would have given to someone.

Naruto sighed as he straightened his expression. ''I feel like the whole world is placed on my shoulders.'' really, there was just too much to think about on this journey. He didn't want to think of how hurt Tsunade was, or how his friends would react when they find out he ran away from Konoha.

He didn't particularly care about what those other elders thought of his actions. He was happy with the decisions he had made - they weren't wrong. The elders were fools who only cared about Konoha and didn't give a damn about peace. There was no peace in those war hardened minds; they only thought of protecting Konoha; everything was about Konoha, but not to him.

''Wanna talk about it?''

Naruto became silent for a few moments before he relented. ''A couple of years ago, I left Konoha with Jiraiya for a three-year training trip. The trip was to help me train to become strong so that I could protect myself against S-rank criminals of the Akatsuki.''

If he hadn't left Jiraiya, he wouldn't be where he was at this time - he would be somewhere sitting inside a dark hole cursing his miserable existence. He may even be still oblivious to his parentage if things had gone Jiraiya and Tsunade's way. This is why he is glad he met Itachi. Had it not been for the Uchiha, he wouldn't be having something to define his existence; peace defined his existence.

''That was by the time they still existed. And I'd understand why you would want to become strong; they were hunting down Jinchurikis. So your life was at risk with them around, but now it isn't much of a problem since they are no longer there,'' it wasn't a secret that the Akatsuki was 'dead'. She actually felt relief that they were no longer active; with them around, it meant Gaara was also at risk.

Miyuki didn't see anyone who could hold Sunagakure together at this time other than Gaara. He wasn't just a good person; he was a Jinchuriki who was powerful. His fearsome reputation quells out any thoughts of rebellion inside Sunagakure. She wasn't a fan of using fear to rule over people, but in this case, Gaara's reputation worked well for Sunagakure and its security as well as stabilization.

Naruto nodded. ''After I'd left Konoha with Jiraiya; I ditched him and went on separate way just to clear my mind because someone who I considered a friend had attempted to kill me and would've succeeded if it wasn't for the Kyuubi's power. I had so much to think about as I couldn't wrap my around the idea of killing your friend just in the name of getting power.

You see, I didn't even know who my parents were back then. I wasn't even told that I was Jinchuriki until someone who wanted to kill me spilled the beans. The Sandaime was like my grandfather and he knew me best. Yet, he couldn't even tell me the reason everyone at Konoha looked at me with great loathing. No one even bothered to tell me who my parents were.''

it was his greatest pain that they chose to keep the truth away from him. Keeping him oblivious was no different than blind folding him and setting him to walk on a bumpy journey. This just meant that he was hitting stuff he couldn't see along the way. The cruel thing was that Jiraiya and the Sandaime only satisfied themselves with just watching.

''It must have been sad living your life without knowing your parents, or even answers to questions you had. The worst must have been when the whole of Konoha hated you; in your case, since you didn't know anything, for no reason,'' it was cruel. They could've at least told him about why he was hated. The lack of knowledge must have driven many illusions that trapped him in an endless nightmare.

''Yeh, it was,'' Naruto said with a small sad smile. ''Still, I always had a smile on my face, but when I returned to my dark cave, a cold loneliness always welcomed me.''

Miyuki didn't say anything; she had nothing.

''During my time away from Konoha, I learned of my parents. And I was quite displeased...'' displeased is a great understatement. He had been furious, "that the people I trusted lied to me; they allowed me to think that my parents had abandoned me because they didn't want me. They allowed me to suffer when they knew the truth. If I had known the truth, I would have never been miserable as I was.

I guess something in me clicked then. I was filled with bitterness because people I trusted were liars and their lies had made me suffer greatly. I guess I stopped smiling too much because I was afraid that being stupid will make me miss things, and people closest to me will lie again, forcing me to experience more pain.

While I have grown, I am still Naruto, and nothing will change that. What has changed is my mindset. Progress for the UN comes before anything. I am willing to sacrifice everything that is in me for peace. My willingness to sacrifice everything is what makes me what I am today and has led to this situation I am in today. It feels like I've given up on living my life for the UN.''

Miyuki was silent for a few moments before responding. ''This world has been nothing but cruel to you, why would you seek to make it better?''

Naruto smiled sadly before answering, ''I don't know myself, but I feel that this is something I must do. It is like with Konoha, they've been nothing but cruel to me, but even so, it is still my home. A part of me loathes what they did while a part of me wishes to forgive them. This indecision in me makes my actions and behavior somewhat contradicting.''

''I feel bad now,'' Miyuki said. ''I wanted you to talk but I can't offer anything in return.''

''It is quite alright,'' Naruto said. ''Talking was just fine; I don't have anyone to talk to about this subject.''

''No one..?''

''I told you; my desire for peace has made me somewhat relinquish everything. I thought it was best that I don't make any new friends and keep things to myself on this kind of path. I don't want anything to stand in the way, which is why I don't want to have anything. I am prepared to make sacrifices, but I understand letting go of things isn't easy,'' Naruto explained lightly.

''You're complicated.'' That was what Miyuki could say about his personality. There were just so many things that he said, and it was all complex.

She understood that his desire to see his dream through, and willingness to lose everything in the favor of peace has brought this kind of person in him. But like he said; he was Naruto and he would always be Naruto - he is just more focused on his goals than anything. Miyuki thought that this personality he currently has was a result of something.

Hope, lack of rather.

Naruto knows that he will lose so much on this kind of path, he knows he will be forced to do things he wouldn't do; he knows he will be forced to carry much more burdens than he has his whole life. He was already experiencing this reality; he had already killed people; his relationship with Konoha has now turned frosty, and the future for any form of personal happiness looks bleak, she was the only light.

But if it was only happening now, he should have been only ''expressionless, lacking humor'' about now not before. The fact that he was like that before this happened means that he had foreseen this happening. If he had seen this happening, then he wouldn't have given himself any hope because he knew separating for those he cared for would hurt him.

For example, if he had formed a relationship with a woman in Konoha, that relationship would be in trouble. It would also bring pain to both him and his partner since he couldn't be in Konoha without being apprehended. The partner would surely be questioned heavily on his whereabouts and she would always be watched to see if he would show up or not.

It appears that she does have something to say.

''Naruto, all your efforts to peace are not based in Konoha. Everything you have now is not within Konoha; have you lost hope in Konoha? Is it what you wanted to give up first before anything?''

Naruto became thoughtful for a few moments before he responded, ''while I do have some friends in Konoha, nothing really ties me to the village. All that it has been to me is one big mountain that I keep falling from whenever I try to climb. I don't want to lose hope in Konoha because if I do, it will be the end of my dream. There are far worse things than Konoha lurking in the shadows out there. But this only makes the situation hard for me because of all that the village has done to me.''

''It's like you're stuck between two lines,'' Miyuki said shaking her head. ''I can't say I understand everything fully, but what I can say is that don't lose hope in your own happiness. You may be trying to be like someone who seemed to be doing well, but you don't know what that person was hiding behind the shadows.

This isn't you; you're a kind person who's always thinking of others, rather than yourself. Don't lose your smile because it is what keeps your identity. Without it, you're no longer what you used to be to your friends, and eventually, you'll become nothing but a robot.''

Naruto smiled at Miyuki's words, ''I know that, but trying is way harder than when you say it.''

''Nothing is ever easy, Naruto. If you need someone to help you with emotional balance, then you have me; as long as you allow me to be by your side, I will always be here and never leave you.''

''Thanks,'' Naruto said quietly as he stood up. He went to Miyuki's side and offered her his hand. ''Come on, we have a few hours before noon, and by then, everything should be starting in Uzushiogakure.''

**Uzushiogakure**

This was happening; the first UN Conference was going to commence and he just had to say the words to begin it. Naruto felt as though the excitement bubbling inside of him would explode into bliss that would be uncontrollable. This was just one step towards that goal - that dream. The peace movement was only beginning now regardless of what has been happening over the past weeks.

This was the time for him to stand up and realize his dream. The people he'd call had gathered here. They were all leaders of villages, countries; they of course had to have taken their time to come here. They didn't come here to watch the mystical whirlpools that surround the island; they came here to hear what he had to tell them, what he had promised he would deliver. These people were all here because they wanted to create a new world order - an order of peace and stability.

Naruto felt proud that they had come here at his request; he felt happy that he was finally starting to move towards that goal. He wasn't just suffering for nothing - he was moving towards something. And now he couldn't just say things about the UN, he could now touch it, and breathe it because it was all happening.

Naruto looked around the podium, facing with rows of different people from different villages, all sitting down in the comfortable chairs he'd prepared. There were quite a number of people in the hall; the Kages that were present were the Wind Shadow and the Mizukage. The Wind and Water lords were also present in this gathering. Each Kage came with his/her advisors, as well as other leaders within their respective villages. Even those leaders of other villages didn't come alone. The leader of Takigakure had come with about 5 representatives from the village.

Tsunade had decided not to come after all, but Jiraiya, Koharu and Homura were present along with Kakashi. Naruto guessed that they came here for no other reason than to spy on proceedings and to insure that they were not left out of anything. It didn't matter much though; he was here to work and he would work regardless...

''He looks okay,'' Kakashi noted sitting between Jiraiya and Koharu. For someone who was supposedly under immense stress, he looked very happy. He was even willing to bet that his Sharingan would be able to point out the flows of happiness inside of the blond.

''If this is all he cares about then he doesn't have a reason to be saddened by anything,'' Koharu responded mildly. ''This only means that he doesn't care about the situation he has left our village in. He can stand there and look so proud while our council is a mess because of him. The days are numbered though...''

Eventually, he would answer to them. Anyone who dared ''defy'' the power of Konoha's council always had to pay the price. Naruto had a lot more to answer to given the latest developments of things and he was surely going to pay if he had any hand in it. She didn't have a problem with him away from the village though - but she still wanted him to answer to his actions and for his insubordination.

''The council a mess..?'' Jiraiya's brow furrowed as he looked the elder woman on his left side with Homura on his right. ''You're exaggerating Koharu-san. I've been with the council since everything happened and I haven't seen any mess. More importantly, since Naruto's isn't with us, Iwagakure has stepped away from trouble with us.''

Though he wouldn't like to admit the fact, it was the truth. Since Naruto wasn't with Konoha anymore - and he had quit his duties as a shinobi of Konoha some time ago - it meant that Iwagakure had no problem with them, but they were going after Naruto himself - Konoha was free from anything because of this.

Naturally, he was worried about the target that was on Naruto since Iwagakure was obviously out for his head. Knowing Onoki, he wouldn't rest until they eventually do get their hands on the blond. Jiraiya feared that, and he wanted to make things right.

''You're still defending that immature brat, I see,'' Koharu stated with narrowed eyes.

Someone who wasn't in their conversation spoke after that - she was sitting on the row just behind the group from Konoha. ''That immature brat has brought all these leaders into this single place and so far, everything has been civil - despite the fact that nothing has yet to start. I don't think even kages can call upon such a great attendance like this ''immature brat'' has done.'' Princess Koyuki stated with a small smile.

Koharu didn't respond.

''Koyuki-hime,'' Jiraiya smiled at the woman behind him. ''I didn't think we were speaking that loud, but it is good to see you again.''

''If you hadn't noticed, almost everyone is waiting in anticipation for the speaker to start talking,'' Koyuki said. ''Ah, he is about to start.''

They all looked ahead as Naruto began to talk. ''Ladies and gentleman, kages, daimios, leaders of all villages, I welcome you to the Island of Peace, Uzu, for this historic conference which is the first since the founding of the elemental Nations. I am Naruto, president of the UN, and it's Alliance. I have left out the family name because it has nothing to do with what we have gathered here for. I am not here as Namikaze or Uzumaki, I'm simply here as Naruto of the UN.

I do apologize to those I was not able to greet personally when they reached the island; I had matters to deal with. I would also like to thank everyone who heeded this call and took their time to be here, and I assure you - you will not regret your choice.

Before I got even further, I would like to repeat this to everyone; we are here for a United Conference. The UN does not stand for United Naivety,'' a few chuckles at the term graced the hall, ''but it stands for United Nations. We are all here because we have hope that nations can be united under one umbrella to create a better world for the future generation and reshape this flawed shinobi world.''

A few nods of agreement at Naruto's choice of words. Konan couldn't actually believe that this was happening, and seeing them nod in acceptance filled her with more hope for peace finally becoming a reality - the peace Nagato had so craved, the peace Yahiko had died for. This meant nothing though, but it gave her hope that something would come out of this.

''United Naivety, where did that come from?'' Mei asked the Kazekage who was sitting on her right side - they were sitting on the front row.

''It's a term some ''people'' who have no hope or desire for peace are calling this organization,'' Gaara said calmly.

''So basically, when we form the United Alliance, they will be calling it the United Naivety Alliance,'' Mei concluded. It was so sad that some people would actually call this naivety. While it is possible that they may not reach the whole of the Elemental Nations, the alliance could form a major power that installs sustainable balance that is governed by different nations who have no desire of breaking the alliance.

Gaara nodded.

Naruto went on with his speech, ''I am positive that not everyone knows the other, so I will begin with introductions first so that we can all know each other,'' Naruto stated. ''But before that, I would like to outline a few rules that you will all have to follow while you're in this island. These rules are not to be broken, if they are, I will ENFORCE proper punishment.''

A hand rose as soon as those words left his mouth. ''What do you object, Nakada-san?'' Naruto asked the Lord of the River Country, who had raised his hand.

''What are these rules that you speak of... As far as I am concerned, you didn't specify any rules before we got here, and I was told that that no rule would be implemented unless agreed upon by the majority.'' The man sat down after his question.

''Officially, you agreed upon being members of the UN, and its existing principles - the documents I handed to each one of you had this. I do not think that it is my duty to read out loud the fine prints which were no hidden and written plainly. I mean no offence by that.

While it is indeed true that this is a democratic organization, these ''simple'' rules were made when I formed this organization. They are not the rules of the UN per se, but they are rules of this island, and this house - which I govern. This house and Island are only hosts to the UN, not property of the organization.'' This was Naruto's firm response.

''You still didn't answer why the rules were not specified...''

''It wasn't necessary to say them at the time as they are only applicable while you are in this island. This is why I am taking this time to explain them to you. But since this is democracy, if you feel that you disagree with them - even though this is my HOUSE - I will see other alternatives,'' Naruto said calmly.

''That is acceptable,'' Nakada said.

''These rules are as follows...'' Naruto laid out the rules plainly and allowed the people to digest them.

''No fighting amongst the members, no provocation of any kind is permitted, failure to comply will result on affected members either expelled from the island or the house for the duration of the meeting, or pay a fine - this will depend on the seriousness of the matter,'' Kakashi recited. ''Fighting may only occur if it is nothing more than a sparring match between opponents, but it must always be supervised and agreed upon by members.''

Talk about no nonsense ruling. This only meant that Naruto wasn't going to permit any form of fight or incidents that may course division amongst the members. Of course with such rules it meant that no one was going to risk it. Being withdrawn from the premises meant that you were not going to take part in whatever talks were being held. It also made it more manageable because unruly people always grew out of control.

''No member is allowed say anything that may make the membership of a member questionable or credibility questioned without tangible proof - real proof not fabricated stories that have no direction,'' Jiraiya recited another one. ''This one has no punishment if you do break it,'' he said.

''If all rules that were broken were punishable, it would create an illusion of ''you're not allowed to do anything wrong. If you do anything wrong, you will be charged''.'' Homura stated.

''Naruto is going by the thought that no one is perfect,'' a man said, sitting just beside Homura. ''He still does maintain that there are rules that must not be broken. Say for an example, if members started fighting in here, it compromises what this organization stands for. If you have a problem with someone, you're not encouraged to fight over it, but to resolve it peacefully.''

''But the rules are only applicable while in here, what about there?''

''This are only rules of the house. More rules will surely be proposed later on so that we can all agree upon. This is ''democracy'' after all,'' Jiraiya responded quietly.

''I hope you all agree with this, if not, we will open a proposal for new rules tomorrow.'' Naruto said. ''Now with the introductions; I will start with Amegakure; its leader is Konan-san. Konan-san, will you stand up so that these people can see you?'' Konan did as told; she was sitting on the third row, on a chair far on Naruto's left side. ''Amegakure is the first official member of this organization.''

A round of applause as Konan sat down. Naruto introduced all leaders, and representatives one by one until there was no one left that he hadn't introduced. It took a few moments to introduce everyone, but it had to be done.

''I am sure that you must all be tired. I will give you some time to explore the ruins and look at the library. Today was all about introductions. The rest will be completed tomorrow and you will be freed after that.

The business of tomorrow will be the establishment of different committees that will form part of the UN and we will create our own constitution. That is all for today!''

''Tomorrow is the day of reckoning,'' Miyuki said as she remained seated on the left side of Gaara.

The Sand Kage nodded. ''We will see how he handles it,'' he said. Tomorrow wasn't going to be as civil as today had been. Tomorrow everyone was going to be speaking their mind and curses were surely going to be thrown around. It will need some authority and power to maintain the ruckus that will surely grace tomorrow.

''I'm sure he will be fine,'' Mei said with a smile. ''Naruto-kun has this planned well. If it wasn't for the fact that he wants to do a clean sweep of security inside and outside the island, proceedings would have started today.''

''Isn't it safe?''

''It is,'' Mei said. ''But this is the first time this island has held this thing, and Naruto wants to insure that all the security measures he set up are working perfectly, and also insure that no one is doing anything they aren't supposed to.''

''I doubt anyone will be able to do anything though,'' Temari said. ''Communication with the outside world is cut off and nothing inside goes out unless he gives the word. Some may not have noticed, but there are other people inside the island, watching over things.''

She had already tested things, and it was impossible get anything outside. It almost felt like every movement outside the walls of their given residents was being monitored with a watchful eye.

''These other people are the security forces,'' Mei said standing up. ''Now, if you'll excuse me, I must speak with Naruto-kun.''

Miyuki looked at the Kage for a few moments until she reached Naruto. ''He seems rather fond of her,'' she said looking at Naruto's smile.

''He is like that to everyone,'' Gaara gave a quick response. ''Besides, they've been working together on this before I was even told, so it is only natural that they get along.''

Mei and Naruto

''Mei,'' Naruto acknowledged the presence of the woman with a smile.

''The people don't seem to be in much of a hurry to leave the hall,'' Mei stated. No one had yet to leave the hall ever since Naruto adjourned the meeting. Perhaps they were waiting for something, but she wanted to take advantage of the situation.

''It seems so...'' Naruto said. ''What do you have in mind?''

''A 'little' sparing match to show everyone your power, personally. It will help over your authority when things heat up tomorrow and no one will undermine you for your age,'' The Mizukage suggested wisely.

Naruto smiled. ''I truly do like the way you think chairwoman,'' he said.

''You're in a good mood,'' Mei noted.

''There is no reason to be depressed,'' Naruto responded before clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. ''I have a proposal, which I am sure you'll all like...''

**Later**

Jiraiya stood still at a remote clearing within the coast of Uzu - the other leaders and representatives were standing just away from him under the trees as they watched. He was going to do battle with Naruto, a leader of this organization that has brought them together. He couldn't deny that such an opportunity to fight Naruto had never been on his wish list. The blond had always denied him the opportunity, but when the chance came, he had been quick to pounce on it.

What they were doing was a little exhibition match just to keep everyone entertained. That was how it looked on the outside, but it wasn't like that when you looked underneath. Naruto was hoping to do well against him, a world renowned Sannin. If he did well, it would only confirm his position as leader of this organization.

He wasn't going to make it easy though. No way in this world.

''Why did you take this chance, Jiraiya-san?'' Naruto asked standing in front of the Sannin. The place they were in was just a clear ground, with trees on the side of the island, while there was a wall along the sea line. The songs of the sea and the twisting whirlpools could be heard and seen from this place.

When he offered an opportunity to do battle with someone, Jiraiya had jumped on to take the opportunity even when Kakashi had raised his hand as he too wanted to take it. But since Jiraiya was a Sannin, everyone agreed that it was best to test this peace seeker with a Sannin like Jiraiya. He wasn't at all afraid of the Sannins power - he could match whatever Jiraiya offered to him after all.

''You knew full well that I would take up this opportunity,'' Jiraiya retorted.

Naruto merely smiled though. ''My question still stands.'' Even if he had known the Sannin would want to take the chance, that didn't mean that Jiraiya was obliged to make his wish come true. The man chose to come here into this stage on his own; no one forced him to do it.

''You didn't take our previous battle seriously and you've always avoided fighting me. This is my chance since you can't run away, not when those people are watching,'' The Sannin smirked.

''I see,'' Naruto begun, ''then you can you have me backed against the corner. What a uneasy situation I find myself in.''

Naruto was being a lot more lively and calm about this than he would have expected. Considering that their last meeting wasn't a happy one, he was expecting the blond to be in a different mood than this. He had not even called him simply as 'Jiraiya', it has been 'Jiraiya-san'. This only gave him the idea that Naruto had put all personal matters aside to focus on the UN.

''I am still surprised that you'd permit it. When I beat you down, the confidence in you by all these people will dip. Do not make the mistake that I will take it easy on you and allow you some free hits - it wouldn't look good on Konoha if I did that,'' Jiraiya said as he took a stance.

''For the first time since I returned from my 'three-year training trip', I will be fighting at 100%. I have never been able to fight seriously and at my full potential because of conflicting views in my mind, but my head is clear now, and I am quite a bit excited,'' Naruto took his own stance. ''Anything half-cooked and you will not return to Konoha as Jiraiya of the Sannin, but as an old washed up, Jiraiya, living in past glories.''

Before Jiraiya could muster his retort, Konan - the proctor - spoke, ''okay, that is enough now,'' she said calmly. ''This is not a battle to death, so avoid inflicting major damages to each other because we are want to attend that meeting tomorrow,'' she paused to look at each. ''Begin!''

Naruto didn't make a move - he stood still in his stance while Jiraiya did the same. It may look like nothing was happening, but they were actually looking for openings in each other's stance to exploit. Unfortunately for either, Naruto's taijutsu was polished perfectly while Jiraiya was far more experienced to be showing openings, not when the physical battle had yet to begun.

The psychological battle was already at large.

In the blink of an eye, both Naruto and Jiraiya disappeared from the respective positions. The second they both appeared, they were close to each.

Naruto threw a left hook at Jiraiya while his feet were on the ground. The Sannin leaned back to avoid the fast coming punch, before he edged closer to Naruto again. His own right hand charged with a strong fist formed, as it moved towards Naruto's head from his left side.

The blond blocked the punch by raising his left hand. He didn't allow Jiraiya to mount another punch before he could throw his own attack; his right foot was raised at around waist-level, and a kick was sent towards the Sannin, who made the distance to avoid the kick.

Once Jiraiya landed down on the ground after jumping back when he avoided Naruto's kick, blond was right in front of him again; his left foot was raised high for a high kick, which was blocked by Jiraiya's left hand. Not allowing the blond to be the only on the offence, the Sannin also went for a high kick with his right foot. Just as he had blocked Naruto's kick with his left hand, the blond did the same.

Before either could make the distance from each other, Naruto flicked a finger from his right hand, straight at the Sannin. A bullet of wind pummeled Jiraiya straight on his chest and sent him airborne.

Naruto followed after the Sannin, and spun around in midair before the Sannin could hit the ground. He sent a forceful spinning kick straight at Jiraiya's face, but the Toad Sage brought both his hands together in the front to shield from the kick. Despite blocking the kick, he was still sent further backwards, but gravity was already taking its course when that happened, and he ended up sliding on the ground backwards for a few feet before coming to a halt.

He didn't even get a chance to breathe as Naruto appeared a little over on his left side. The blond quickly twisted around and aimed a high kick at his face, again. On automatic defense, both the Sannins were held up in time to lock the danger. Jiraiya still managed to block the kick with both his hands. The force behind the kick was enough to push him back slightly.

**''Wind Breakthrough**,'' no hand seals, not even a single hand seal was formed when Naruto released the jutsu. Even so, great gusts of winds moved towards Jiraiya, who wasn't that far from them since he was only pushed back a little by Naruto's kick.

The Sannin quickly did a replacement technique to replace himself with a log since there were trees nearby. Naruto's jutsu hit the log and sent it crashing aside from the clearing.

Before Naruto could think of searching for Jiraiya's location, the Sannin blurred into sight behind him, but Naruto was just as quick enough to twist hurriedly to block a high kick that was aimed at the back of his head. The blond suppressed a wince when Jiraiya's kick collided with both his hands; the man kicked really hard. Jiraiya followed this up with another left footed high kick, which Naruto leaned back a little to avoid since he didn't want to block another hit from the Sannin.

Jiraiya jumped back a little. Once he landed down the ground, he took off like a bullet, shooting straight at Naruto. The blond simply raised his right hand, with open palm facing the incoming Sannin and didn't make another move. When Jiraiya reached Naruto, he twisted to the left before returning with a high right foot kick. The kick never reached Naruto as it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Knowing that Naruto was a wind user, Jiraiya didn't have to second guess what had blocked his kick. The Sannin quickly jumped back, creating some considerable distance between him and the blond.

''You're way more focused than I've ever seen you,'' Jiraiya said looking straight at Naruto's eyes. Everything was guarded heavily, his expression and body language revealed nothing to him.

''I told you; I haven't been more free than I am today,'' Naruto gave a calm response to Jiraiya's statement.

''I guess I should get serious then,'' well, more serious than before. He wasn't underestimating Naruto the least.

In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya blurred of sight before appearing behind Naruto; a left hook was thrown at the blond, who was able to twist around and block the punch before it could hit him. Jiraiya didn't stop there; he waved his left foot, aiming it high at Naruto. The blond caught Jiraiya's foot with both his hands. Surprised, Jiraiya didn't show it as he jumped a little using his right foot as balance before he drove a high kick at Naruto's face.

Naruto's was forced to free Jiraiya's left foot so that he could put both his hands in a crossed position to block the midair kick from Jiraiya. When the kick connected with his hands, Naruto suppressed again as pain shot through his wrists while he was propelled backwards by the kick.

Jiraiya didn't Naruto the time to rest; while the blond was still being pushed by the momentum of his kick, he darted towards him in blinding speeds. He jumped above ground, and spun around before aiming a right footed kick at Naruto, who still hand his raised put in the crossed position. The kick connected with Naruto's defense, but this time, the blond was sent sailing away backwards.

Naruto flipped several times in midair before hitting the ground in his knees.

Jiraiya was again at him; he was above him and sent a back heel kick crashing down at him. Naruto looked up, **''Wind Barrier''** he created a barrier above him to shield himself from the incoming kick from the Sannin. Jiraiya's kick connected with the wind barrier, but failed to break through, forcing Jiraiya to jump back, to create some distance.

When he landed down the ground, he was already going through hand seals, **''Fire Style: Great Fireball no Jutsu**!'' the Sannin expelled a large fireball at the still kneeling Naruto.

The blond quickly stood up and held out his right hand, **''Wind barrier**,'' he muttered.

The large fireball collided with the wind wall and accumulated there in a heap, increasing the heat around Naruto. The wind defense didn't allow the fire jutsu to break through before Naruto flicked his middle finger on his right hand. The fire jutsu exploded to create a large ball of fire before dying down in a matter of seconds.

**''Fire Style: Dragon's breath!''** Jiraiya suddenly yelled appearing behind Naruto.

Naruto twisted around while throwing three kunais above Jiraiya; after that, he went through fast hand seals. The space/time barrier formed in front of him and swallowed the stream of flames that was coming towards him. Once swallowed, Naruto held a single hand seal, before the kunais he had thrown passed Jiraiya - they were all above him. A stream of flames shot from between the kunais, fast, down at the Sannin.

Jiraiya cursed before barely dodging the jet stream of flames that hit the ground he once stood. The heat of the flames had caught him since he was only able to dodge just in time. Any second later, he would've been burned, literally.

**''Wind Style: Wind Vortex**,'' the technique was formed after observing Kiba's **Garouga.** It created a spinning wind vortex that blazed towards the opponent. It was also capable of drilling through anything. It made it highly dangerous.

Jiraiya did hand seals of his own. ''**Earth Style: Mud Wall**!'' He yelled as he slammed his hands to the ground, but nothing happened. His eyes widened when Naruto's jutsu kept closing the distance between them, and his jutsu wasn't coming up. It shouldn't be like that and he had depended on the jutsu to shield him from the dangerous looking attack.

The Sannin held out both his hands in front of him in a crossed position to form at least a shield, but the attack never reached him. Naruto snapped his fingers, dispersing the wind vortex as he knew it would make the Sannin bleed, heavily.

Jiraiya was surprised; nonetheless, he didn't show it as he asked a question. ''What happened?''

Naruto shook his head. ''It is part of a security measure I put throughout the island; any chakra that is channeled through the ground is absorbed. In another way to explain it; you can't use any form of Ninjutsu that requires you to use the ground.''

''Isn't that going a little too far even it is for security reasons?''

Naruto shrugged, ''our sparring session is over,'' the blond said. Jiraiya looked with curiously but he got what he meant when his left foot crush the ground beneath it, burrowing down; his eyes widened - he couldn't move it.

''What..?''

''When I caught your foot after you tried kicking me, I applied a seal on it - it is only taking affect now,'' Naruto said. ''You're a Sannin, and since you weren't underestimating me like last time, i figured this was the best way to end this without either one of us bleeding. Obviously, you wouldn't want to be beaten and the same would be for me.''

''I understand the need to be in perfect condition for tomorrow, but I had expected for the battle to end differently. You made it sound like you were going to give me everything in the beginning,'' Jiraiya said, trying to pull his foot from the ground.

Naruto held out his right hand, and long blade appeared on his palm in a puff of smoke. ''There are different tactics to winning a fight, Jiraiya - you know this well,'' he said as he started walking towards the Sannin. ''The strongest doesn't always win, and flashing jutsus of all elements isn't why we battle. Burning all your chakra for the thrill of it serves no purpose to me, and this island has already seen too much blood - I wish not for this ground to drink anymore human blood.''

First it was no fights permitted in here, and then the seal that made it impossible to utilize the ground for Ninjutsu, and now this. It almost felt like Naruto treated this island as some holy ground of his. What was now obvious to him was that Naruto really loved Uzu, more than any land. He did say this was his property, not property of the UN.

''...and I only said those words to motivate you into fighting seriously...'' Naruto finished with a wide smile that only reminded the Sannin of the old Naruto.

Jiraiya was thoughtful for a few moments before speaking. ''Your other reason to stage this was not see who was the strongest...''

''You catch on fast,'' Naruto said before placing his blade on Jiraiya's neck. ''The UN is composed mainly by small villages, who don't have as much offensive power as the Great Villages. I was just trying to show them that even though they might not be as powerful as you, they can still play on the same field. Power alone doesn't define things, but the ability to think and use the little power you have perfectly, can result in great things.''

''...while adding flaunting your Fuinjutsu skills and quick thinking - you outmaneuvered and encountered everything I threw at you, before a simple thing brought me down,'' Jiraiya added.

Naruto didn't lose his smile. ''As long as you have chakra, that seal will remain active unless you find a way to remove it or flood it with senjutsu to break it,'' he said. ''Do you want to give up or should I pummel you without making you bleed,'' the smile was all that a memory.

**Naruto's quarters**

''You really do look a bit different,'' Mei said sitting on a couch across Naruto - between them was a table with a few documents spread all over. ''Is there a woman in your life? When a man starts brightening up like this, you expect there to be a woman behind the smile.''

He wasn't indifferent as he usually was when he spoke to her - he had been practically glowing with happiness when he was standing in front of his guests at the hall. The air around him didn't feel as it always did, but he was still calm and relaxed as he had always been.

''We're starting something big, Chair, I think we should all be happy. Although this means nothing, it is something nonetheless,'' Naruto responded. ''Kages only meet in their summits when there is a major issue that threatens each of their villages, but today, we gathered leaders from different villages, and they came. There is also nothing that is threatening them.''

''It is indeed a good step forward, but I think there is something behind that smile...''

Naruto only smiled before changing the subject, so that they can return to work. ''Shi has only been able to recruit 35 trustworthy shinobi. As I told you, they were some of them within the security forces within this island. For all our projects to come through, we have to gather more forces who will be stationed around the nations.

Shi's expertise in information gathering reduces the number of forces we must place for the United Nations Police Force, as we will only have to send forces to places of high danger. Even so, there must be more on standby.''

The UN had to have its own forces to battle against injustice and evil within the nations or borders of its members. While Shi was running a recruitment program, they needed more shinobi because the Police Force wasn't the only force the UN was going to establish. There had to be different factions of forces to maintain order and justice in the lands within the UN's map.

''According to chapter 4 of the UN charter, section 5, all members with shinobi are to contribute a small number of shinobi they can offload to make up for the UN's forces,'' Mei said. The UN's charter was written by Naruto himself, but there was a problem. ''The thing is we don't know if members will agree to it. Even if the majority agree, those least will still not be pleased, and it may course problems.''

Naruto nodded. ''This is why I want to make amendments to the charter, and get more recruits not directly from the members. If we open up a recruitment office, we can get some applicants who we will train to conform to the laws and regulations of the UN.''

''That is more like creating an academy for UN purposes,'' Mei mused. ''For the long term plan, I think establishing our own academy will be more effective as it will decrease the reliance on shinobi from members.''

''I'd thought of something like that myself,'' Naruto said. ''Shinobi from other villages will come with the ways of their own villages and it will be difficult to change their attitudes and mentality. But if there is an academy of our own, we can shape future officers in the way of the UN.''

''There is really more work to be done,'' Mei sighed. ''Funding for all projects will also be a major issue that we will need to sort out. For now, we're okay, but once the projects start, you're going to run dry. Kiri is stable, but I can't afford to be making large withdrawals...''

''It is quite all right,'' Naruto waved his right hand in a dismissive manner. ''We will think of something else. Nevertheless, the shinobi we will higher have to be paid by us, and if we have a large number of personnel, the wages bill will be big. Uzu's riches are still ''good'' and I've collected more millions through other means.''

other means would be collecting bounties of criminals that were roaming around the world. Naruto had known that all these would require large amounts of capital to kick-start and there was a possibility that members would be stingy with their money. They had to see the effectiveness of the organization first before willingly signing cheques.

''There are so many things to deal with. But nations outside of the shinobi world are also moving on forward with curiosity. Shi intercepted a message from the princess of the Demon country. It didn't say what she wanted, but she wanted to speak with me. I will head there after I've handled some things.''

''At least we have sorted out how things go tomorrow,'' Mei said. ''I just hope that nothing unexpected happens because things will become tricky when you start announcing plans and selecting committee members.''

''Whether expected or unexpected, we will have to deal with it all,'' Naruto responded calmly. ''I have been preparing for the day for quite a while now and if I can't manage things tomorrow, then I will not be able to manage things as we proceed. If you want to build a strong dynasty, your groundwork must be firm, and I will insure that I stamp down my authority if the need be.''

There were people who liked going south when others were going north, and Naruto knew that tomorrow there were going to be many things said if he goes on to mention of the plans he hopes to create. He could just end with selecting the different committees within the organization to complete its structure and leave the rest for later. But it was best to get it all now.

''Well, I am also here, if it becomes a need be for me to impose, I will be beside you - I am going to chair the Executive committee after all.''

Naruto appreciated it, ''I don't know what I would do without you, Mei,'' it was probably the first time he called her by her name. ''I can only hope that our relationship strengthens. So far, we've been keeping it business, though we do drift out of topic sometimes, but there has never been anything much more up-close.''

Mei furrowed a brow, ''ara, are you saying that you want a more personal relationship with me?''

Naruto wasn't shy about it, he gave a nod, ''Gaara is my friend; I can call his home my home. But the same cannot be said for you, and I believe that if we are going to work together in a more effective manner than this, we must know each other a bit more. I also see no harm getting close.''

''You didn't seem like you wanted to get close to anyone when you came to me...''

Naruto smiled sadly. ''I have been doing a lot of thinking since the whole mess with Konoha, and I realize attachments do get you somewhere. Being a robot only turns into a cold hearted person with no emotions - I can't lead this movement without emotions and happiness in me,'' the blond paused for a moment before continuing. ''Don't you agree with m...'' Naruto trailed off when Miyuki walked into his quarters.

She was supposed to be staying within the quarters of Sand. Each country had its own place to stay, and he had left her with the Sand siblings. She had not told him of anything about coming here. He had also told her he would be working for most of the night.

Mei looked at the Daimio with curiosity. The green haired was standing still a little away from the sitting room. ''Sorry to budge in like this, I didn't think you had company,'' Miyuki said with a small smile.

Mei stood up and yawned; they'd been working for a few hours now and it was really tiring. ''You owe me lunch after the conference, Naruto-kun,'' she said.

Naruto smiled. ''I'll be happy to oblige. I might even do you better, you've been a big help after all...''

''It will be a date then, and we will talk more about 'that' subject,'' she winked at him before looking at Miyuki. A small smile graced her lips, like she was only doing it to see Miyuki's reaction. ''I'll see you tomorrow...''

''Let me walk you out,'' Naruto said as he too stood up.

Mei shook her head. ''Don't worry, I am staying on the floor below, you forget?'' She said before bowing a little to Miyuki. ''Daimyo-sama,'' she greeted politely.

''Mizukage-dono,'' it was Miyuki's stiff response.

Mei didn't mind, she merely walked away with a smile on her face.

Miyuki's gaze fell upon Naruto who was smiling at her. She slowly started walking towards him. ''So, you've been working with her for a few hours; she is comfortable enough with you to call you 'Naruto-kun', and you located her downstairs...''

Naruto smiled nervously, ''I sense that you have a problem with that...''

Miyuki shook her head, ''not at all. I don't have a problem with you working alone with a beautiful and single woman like the Mizukage, why would you think I have a problem with that?''

**Unknown Location**

Sasuke looked at his surrounding with a calculating gaze on his face; he was in an underground hideout, and he didn't know where. The place he was currently standing at was a dark hall, that had no lights, but his eyes could only see Juubi sitting on a throne with legs folded, a black gaze watching him carefully.

''Why did you bring me to this place?'' Sasuke demanded. He was done asking nicely. The moment he decided Danzo wasn't needed, he had seen it fit that he no longer be asking nicely for questions he needed answered.

''First let me start by introducing myself; I am Yamamoto Shinji. I was just a normal shinobi before I met Orochimaru and things happened after that,'' Shinji said.

''Juubi...why did you call yourself that?''

''That is a story for another. I am sure you're wondering what my goal is, but that is also for another day,'' Sasuke glared at the lack of answers. ''What I can tell you is that I've made contact with all Jinchurikis except for three. Nothing fruitful came out though as Naruto had already contacted them all.

You see, I respect the powers of a Jinchuriki, and I wanted to use them. I have also been playing with Naruto to try to see if he can really control the Kyuubi's power, which I see as a threat, but I have discovered that he can't. He is the only one of the Jinchurikis who can't control the powers of the Bijuu inside of him. If he was able, then I would've killed him.

Since I have found all that I wanted, I can begin my ''project'','' Shinji stood up from his throne and walked towards Sasuke. ''There is another Bijuu without a Jinchuriki; I want us to fetch it.''

Sasuke folded his hands across his chest, ''I never agreed to do anything with you and all you've told me is your name and interest in the powers of the Bijuus.''

''...and I thought you wanted to fight your brother,'' he sounded disappointed, and actually shook his head.

**When I say "The End" at the end of my chapters, I mean the end of the chapter not the end of the story; I see that this confuses some readers.**

**I will admit to dragging the plot, but I try all my best to make things a bit more interesting. **

**I know do say this often, but I will try to make it an update once a week – I've become motivated to end this story. You can expect the next chapter next week.**

**The Omnipresent Sage**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

''Jiraiya-sensei, is there any particular reason you chose to sit here after leaving your people?'' Konan asked calmly, looking at the Toad Sage at the corner of her eyes: the sannin was sitting between her and the Mizukage, while his fellow Konoha representatives were sitting on the second row. The man had hurried to ensure that he was seated on this chair: she liked to believe that there was a particular reason for this choice.

''Can't I sit beside my former student without a motive?'' Jiraiya asked with a smile. No matter what, he just couldn't help himself. This was the best seat in the house: a seat between Konan and Mei Terumi. Just sitting here, he could touch both women, and ogle their chest's all he liked, in different angles.

''If you weren't a pervert, it wouldn't be a problem,'' Mei responded for Konan, with her arms folded across her chest. The glances the man was sending at her front weren't so subtle, and it wasn't amusing anymore.

She just wished that Naruto could hurry up and start proceedings. If he engages things, they would be solely focused on him to hear what he has to say. Then again, Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed super pervert; he could take advantage of the situation to ogle them as much as he pleased. It would've been even more of a disaster if he was the one standing on the podium.

The worst would be if he was in charge of security. Mei didn't even want to think what he would've been doing if he was in charge of the security of this place. It was good that Naruto kept himself in charge of security within the island.

''I may be a pervert, but this isn't the time for that now is it?'' He failed miserably to appear serious. When it became obvious, he sighed and turned to Konan, ''how are you Konan? I didn't get a chance to speak to you after my sparring session with Naruto...''

''Well,'' it was a simple response from Konan that nearly made Jiraiya frown. ''You seem good, as always,'' she noted.

''Well, you can't really keep an old dog down, can you?''

Before Konan could respond, Naruto cleared his throat while standing in the center stage. ''Can I have your attention please,'' he said. ''I'm glad that you're all able to return for this day safely. Today is that day where you will all know just what is the UN, and the UNA.

As I said them separately, they are different things; they are two different structures. The UN simply stands for United Nations, and it is the one that has gathered you into this place. The United Nations is an organization that seeks to unite nations and build upon a world that is both safe and stable for this generation and the future generation. We hope to lead the world into a peaceful era, and maintain that peace as well as justice.

I founded the UN with the purpose of ending the meaningless conflicts that have consistently bathed this world in blood. We all suffer during and after war: it doesn't matter if you're the winner of the war. The absolute truth is that we all lose something. The problem becomes when one starts thinking their pain is greater than others. Nothing but vengeance and hatred is born from such attitude.

The UN is born to put an end to it.

The United Nations Alliance is a body under the UN. Its core objective is to unite all nations and form good relations between allied nations. The alliance will be an agreement between all of us: we will agree and sign on it to work together to improve the lives of those villages you all lead, to form healthy relationships with nations near and far. In doing so, we reduce the chances of conflicts.

The alliance that will be formed will not be for the benefit of a certain village, but it will be for the benefit of all allied nations; in this alliance, we will form treaties, and share that which we can to make this world a better place. As allied nations, you will be obliged to shield each other for protection against anything that will appear harmful.

The UN will oversee the alliance: it will act like a watchdog of the UNA to ensure that everything runs smoothly. If anything goes wrong, or any nation violates the terms of the alliance, the UN will act according to the laws that will bind all nations under the UNA.

Say for example, if Sunagakure violates its alliance with Kiri, and cause a friction between the villages, depending on the seriousness of the matter, sanctions and fines will be imposed on Sunagakure. We will gather the Executive Committee of the UNA and discuss the matter. Depending on the sanctions imposed, all members are obliged to adhere to them, failure to do so violating the agreement.

An example of a sanction that can be imposed for violating the agreement will be banning the village from making any trade, or receive missions from any of the members of the UNA and any existing trade or treaty with a member of the UNA will be suspended until the time for the sanction imposed expires.

Make no mistake, the UN will ensure that none of the aforementioned occur. If you violate someone, you will have to answer for it. That time where the bigger man does wrong and gets away with it is over.''

Silence greeted the hall as all representatives digested all that Naruto had said. Though Koharu wouldn't admit it, ensuring that alliances were not broken seemed like it was going to work. Over the past years, peace treaties were formed, but they rarely meant something since villages would tear them apart once they'd recovered their exhausted armies. Another war would loom soon enough.

The main reason these peace treaties meant nothing was because there was nothing or anyone powerful enough to see that these peace treaties are followed. But now there was a powerful force that would ensure that anything agreed upon would be followed. Even if Konoha was the strongest village, if it violated any agreement, it couldn't fight against the combined forces of two great villages and more than 7 other shinobi villages.

Koharu also believed that Naruto had his own army, perhaps more like an elite army. He wouldn't be so sure to say he would enforce the laws without power. He alone couldn't do it, but if there was a more powerful army to back him up, it would surely mean that whatever sanction imposed, even a village like Konoha would be forced to follow.

The sanctions were also another matter. The rules were made so that no one allied be willing to give a hand to the sanctioned village unless one wished to face punishment. Those kinds of sanctions would only drive the economy of the sanctioned village into a corner, making things tight.

She wouldn't give Naruto a hand for it, but everything so far appeared to have been well thought.

''Did you have a hand in these?'' Jiraiya asked, eying the Mizukage beside him. As far as he was corned, there was no one other than her who was more familiar with the structure of the UN and its Alliance.

''As much as I would like to take the credit, I will have to allow this to skip me: it wasn't my doing, but it was the president's - he thought of everything,'' Mei said with a small smile. ''You haven't heard nothing though, there is still much more: he is only covering things in general...''

Jiraiya looked back at Naruto: if he actually did this on his own, then he surely has grown up. Treaties were regarded as nothing when wars were looming large. But Naruto had set things in a way that even if one thought of doing ''wrong'', there would have to think of the consequences of their actions.

''With things put like this, all nations will be ''equal''. There will be no nation that will comfort itself in its superiority. Once we're all aligned, only the Law of the UN will be superior to all nations,'' Jiraiya said.

''That is exactly what he is gunning for,'' Konan said. ''Bigger nations have the tendency of overlooking the smaller nations, and have no qualms in using us or our lands to fuel their own objectives.''

She had seen it in all her life. Amegakure was used as a battle ground when the Great Shinobi Villages were at war. It was always like that and it resulted in pain and great loses in their part. The worst thing was that these Great Villages fail to recognizes their wrong actions. Their pain is always greater, and they always get away with all injustice because the smaller nations can't pick up a fight with them.

But this journey was going to change all that. The UN would ensure that there is no injustice that is not punished, nothing wrong that is left as it is. They were going to correct all flaws and ensure that all who do injustice were brought before the jury and held accountable for their actions. There would no longer be free run for those who do evil and think they can get away with it.

Jiraiya was no stranger to any of these; he had taken part in some of the battles, after all. Even Konoha was guilty for many unjust actions. Yes, the past actions for Konoha left a bitter taste on his mouth. It was this cause that left him without a response to Konan.

''The problem with nations who are guilty of injustice is that each time they do something, they always have ''reasons'' to justify themselves. This is where hypocrisy starts because once you make ''excuses'' to justify your actions, you will never see the wrong you do and you will always be the ''victim''. The UN is there to insure that no one makes excuses for any injustice, and all will be brought to justice,'' Naruto said as he continued.

A hand from the third was raised, and Naruto permitted the woman who'd raised the hand to speak. ''Bringing those who violate the alliance depends on the willingness of the members to agree for an action to be taken, but what if a stronger nation is at fault and the smaller ones are afraid to take action because they rely too much on the stronger village, what would be the cause of action?''

''When the situation comes to that, it won't be the Unified Nations Forces that will take action, but it will be the UN that will take action. I've already told you; the UN will overlook the Alliance to insure that everything is in order. If there is proof that a village went beyond its boundaries, we will be within our rights to take action,'' Naruto gave his response.

Jiraiya could see the problem in that: Naruto didn't have an army with which he could enforce any law, and it would have to be an army that would be strong enough to repel any assault from any village. By Unified Nations Forces, Jiraiya guessed it was an army that would be formed following shinobi from members of the Alliance. If villages aren't cooperating, then there would be no army to work with.

There was also something else that Naruto wasn't saying plainly, but if one listened carefully, you would know: even though the UNA's NEC will be called to discuss what is to happen a member violated the alliance, the UN could still act, regardless of the stance of the NEC. As long as the UN could prove that laws were broken, they could do what they pleased.

As if reading Jiraiya's mind on his earlier thoughts, Tazuna spoke his thoughts. ''You have no army to speak of, so you will have to forgive me, that doesn't give me any assurance.''

Naruto smiled seeing that even Tazuna, who represented the Wave country was not willing to hold any punches. ''You don't need an army to ensure that things go your way,'' the blond said with a small smile. ''But if its power that will be needed, I have plenty.''

Before anyone could retort or scoff, Naruto released his chakra to the extreme, causing many within the hall to freeze. Cracks appearing on the wooden stage were audible to all ears. The thick flow of chakra forced into submission the atmosphere within the hall. It wasn't much of a killing intent, just pure chakra.

**'If you had used much of my raw chakra, the reaction would've been worth the effort than this**,' Kurama said within Naruto's head, but the blond wisely ignored the comment.

''I also have the Kazekage, the Mizukage, and an elite fighting force that includes at least four Jinchurikis.'' Naruto continued from where he left of. ''I would like all to be open. So if you have any question you'd like to ask, please ask...''

Koharu was the first to open her mouth. It was almost as if she'd been waiting for the opportunity to present itself. ''Before I ask any question, what position do you hold?''

''I lead the core body, the UN as its founder, and I am also a member of the UNA's NEC - I hold no voting power within the committee though,'' Naruto gave his response.

''I see,'' the elder said. ''You're marked as an S-rank criminal in the bingo book of Iwagakure, and you're also wanted from Konoha for questioning. Isn't it that you fled from the village?''

That was the type of thing that Mei was praying wasn't going to be said. She was certain that this was only being done just to discredit Naruto and his leadership of the UN. She didn't think that Konoha would try to usurp him for power and try to lead this organization. Though she didn't know how Naruto would answer this one, Mei held faith in him to answer in a pleasing way.

Naruto didn't deny anything or act oblivious, he responded honestly but in a slight stern tone, ''I do not think it is a secret that Iwagakure has painted a bounty for my head. Yes, I did flee from Konoha, but only because I was dealing with people who didn't want reason, and I had more important matters to handle than worrying about matters that can be resolved at any time of the day,'' he said. ''Now that has been made obvious to everyone, what is your question, Koharu-san?''

''Do you think you're worthy for leadership? In fact, who is to say that Iwa won't attack any village that is allied to you just to get to you? Your actions when facing the Iwa army also don't depict that of a person preaches peace. Instead of trying to resolve things by just knocking them out, you butchered them...'' Koharu took her seat after that.

A pregnant silence settled in.

After a few seconds, Naruto finally responded. ''So you're saying because I ''butchered'' shinobi who were on the move to attack a peaceful village I am not worthy of leadership?'' Naruto's tone was very stern. ''I will admit that I could've chosen a better alternate, and it would've been the better choice.

However, if you think that disqualifies me as leader, then I must question if you really are a war veteran. Koharu-san, if you think that only pure, faultless men must lead this organization, then point he that has capable of leading the UN, and has no faults... You're not holly, Koharu, shinobi have their hands full of blood, but if you say I am wrong, correct me.''

Silence. Absolute silence.

''You all must understand that we not all perfect beings. Humans are flawed specie. This is why we have created the law that will teach us the ''just'' ways. I never said I was faultless, and I never said I couldn't make a mistake. What differentiates me from many people is that I am willing to admit my mistakes and seek to correct them,'' Naruto said to which those who knew him nodded in agreement.

**Meanwhile**

**Wave Country**

It was understandable why Orochimaru could be scowling so deeply at this time of the day: he had after all, been trying to sneak into the land hidden in whirlpools, and all attempts had resulted in ultimate failure. For someone like him, that was just unacceptable, especially since a brat created the damn dome like barrier that covered the whole island.

He didn't think that Naruto could've been so advanced in seals that he could create a barrier that even he couldn't break without his presence being found, as well as his location. Just by merely being in contact with the damn barrier, his presence was already known to whoever was controlling it.

He could get into any village and leave as he wills without anyone knowing, he was Orochimaru after all, and yet he couldn't sneak his way through to Uzu.

''While we may not have been able to get into the island, as soon as the leaders return to their nations, we will know what they were discussing,'' Kabuto offered something for his master to console in. But even he knew it wouldn't do. At this stage, Orochimaru was more disturbed by the fact that he couldn't outsmart Naruto and gain access to his island.

''I'm aware of that Kabuto,'' Orochimaru said flatly. ''Naruto uses the island as his base for all operations: this means that everything that Naruto plans and wants hidden, is buried in the island. I am also aware that he won't tell those fools everything, there are some things that he will keep hidden.''

''Everything has its own darkness...'' Kabuto said. Orochimaru guessed that Naruto had his own darkness, and the reason he went all out to protect the island is because he wants his secrets hidden.

Orochimaru nodded. ''You cannot forget that Naruto is also involved with wanted criminals. If something like that got out, it would put him at odds with those who trust him,'' the snake Sannin paused for a moment. ''If you want to work with someone in something important, what do you do first?''

The obvious thing Kabuto could think of is gathering all Intel about that person. Obviously when you gather Intel, you're bound to find many things you didn't wish to see. But that all depended on how good Naruto was when it came to collecting information. ''Are you saying that Naruto might have Intel you might need?''

''Maybe,'' it was a bet, but he wasn't betting too much on it. ''There are so many things that Naruto surely has in his possession. Village leaders trust him: it wouldn't be a surprise to me if he has blueprints of all nations allied with him.''

For their ''protection'' it was possible that Naruto may have gathered every little bit of information he could get. Aside from that, it was a wonder to Orochimaru that Naruto chose Uzushiogakure of all places. If his instincts were true, there was something hidden beneath the place. After the island was invaded during the second shinobi world war, there were no spoils of war. It was like those people destroyed everything.

Continuing, Orochimaru spoke, ''I am far more in...'' the sannin trailed off when ''Juubi'' flashed into existence in front of him and Kabuto - they were walking slowly in the coastal regions of the wave country, just a little away from the harbor.

''I didn't think that even a snake couldn't find its way into Uzu,'' Juubi spoke monotonously: some distance was between him and Orochimaru - and the snake's subordinate.

''It isn't that I ''couldn't,''' Orochimaru corrected. ''I could get inside; there is just no way of entering without my presence being detected. The fact that you're also here means that you also failed,'' he added that last part with a smile.

Kabuto merely pushed his glasses up a bit as he watched things unfold between his master and the ''weapon''.

''My failure is irrelevant,'' Juubi shrugged. ''I didn't come here for that,'' he said. ''It is good that you are still well, Orochimaru. You were on your way to join your parents in the world of the dead.''

Orochimaru snarled at the man before him. ''A simple attack like that couldn't kill me,'' he said. ''If you have trouble believing that, I can give you a free shot,'' a taunting tone was used to goad Juubi into attacking.

Juubi walked towards Orochimaru silently before halting a few inches from the snake sannin. ''Just because you stole the Sharingan and added a few upgrades to boost your power doesn't mean that you've become stronger than me, Orochimaru.'' He said so casually like it was the obvious thing. ''The only reason you're alive is because I allowed you; if I wanted, I could have killed you back then, but I allowed you to live because you will serve a purpose.''

Orochimaru merely chuckled in response, ''says the weapon I created...''

Juubi ignore the statement in favor of his own agenda. ''I have my plans, which will need your services. I don't like you and you don't like me. After the plans plays out, you're free to pathetically attempt to kill me. But before that, if you make any attempts, I will kill you.''

Again, Orochimaru chuckled, this time a bit more madly. ''You cannot kill me, Shinji-kun. I know everything about you, more than you do. I did create you after all.''

Shinji seemed to nod before turning around. ''Yes, and I haven't made any improvements, and I have not upgraded my power.''

It was quite the opposite really. All Orochimaru had to do was remove the ''not'' and he had the true meaning of that statement. He didn't get a chance to query further because Juubi then disappeared.

Even so, Orochimaru did nothing but laugh madly before speaking to his number two, "looks like things are going to be interesting from now on Kabuto."

**Uzu**

'Well, that went better than I thought,' Miyuki thought looking over to a silent Naruto. She offered him a smile of reassurance. It was so much like the disgruntled elders of Konoha to pull off something like this off their asses. She really wished that nothing like this was posed again.

Naruto showed his maturity and professionalism by refraining to call Koharu by any name. Miyuki had no doubt that he'd bit his lip from saying anything that would not appear professional. Naruto liked stating his thoughts and sometimes he was inconsiderate of the feelings of those he was speaking to, but for the greater good, he'd held back and allowed things to take a good course without painting Koharu in a black color.

''While I think that Konoha may have a hidden age-''

Naruto cut off the man who'd next opened his mouth, ''I will have to cut you off Kirihara-san,'' the blond stated rather sternly. ''Please refrain from going where you're thinking of going. Koharu-san spoke her opinion, whether she had an agenda or not, it is not up for discussion for this meeting. We don't want anyone to fee alienated.''

The tone he used put no comfort in the Daimyo of the River Country. ''While I don't agree with everything Koharu-san said, I do however have a question; how are you going to deal with the Iwa issue? They are looking for your head and will not rest until they have you. Of course since you're the head of the UN, this will affect us...''

''Those who know me will believe me when I say this: I will handle the Iwa issue. Whatever happens, it will not interfere with my work. You have my word.'' Those who knew him well enough wouldn't doubt him a bit. And he was glad that the majority knew him well enough to know that he never went back on his word. Saying ''you have my word'' is like giving the royal seal of approval.

''How?'' another voiced out.

''In any peaceful way I can think of,'' Naruto said. He then appeared thoughtful as a thought occurred to him, ''I was under the impression that this is a UN conference, or a general assembly, formerly, not the Naruto conference. Are you people trying to tell me that you have no problems, no qualms with anyone? And you seem to be forgetting that I was not wrong to stop Iwa from reaching Amegakure. You all know the Sandaime Tsuchikage well enough. To tell you the truth, even if I'd just knocked them out, because I am Namikaze, he would have still gone out for my head.''

Silence reigned for a few moments.

''Yesterday I told you that we were going to elect different committees that will be responsible for different tasks within the UN. The UNA only needs one committee which is the NEC, and since the UN is the core body, it will be the one with different committees.

First off, the National Executive Committee of the UNA will be compromised of leaders of each aligned nation. If we have 10 members within the alliance, then the NEC will have 10 members. This committee will be made to manage the Alliance between the nations, make decisions regarding everything that will be included within the alliance.

It will serve as the main body that will determine how things fold within the allied nations. To put it simply, all leaders will be put in charge of this alliance, and it will be you who will make decisions on what to do and how to move on forward. Treaties and trade agreements, threats posed by criminals, it will all be discussed here by this committee. Nothing will occur to your nations without the NEC approving it.

The UN will also have its own Executive committee. This committee will only be selected by me: it will be the main body that governs all that the UN does. While the EC of the UN governs all activities of the UN and oversees UNA, it doesn't have the power to do overrule the UNA's committee, and it doesn't have the authority to over the.'' Naruto paused to catch his breath, and allow the audience to digest everything.

Though it was technically true that the UN has no control over the UNA, there were some elements of the UN's charter that gives the UN certain privileges should the UNA be going against the vision of the UN, and it times the committee can't make decisions.

Naruto had made a good deal for this people. Even though the UN's EC would be selected by him, the EC that had the final say was the UNA'S. Naruto had practically constructed a stage for a play and gave it for them to play. Not even Konoha would disagree to something like this. However, if it was Danzo who was here, he would push for Konoha to hold more say in matters since it was obviously the strongest village in all nations.

Jiraiya was at least thankful that not even Koharu or Homura would dare attempt to push for Konoha to be the controlling factor in the committee. It wasn't made based on the power of a nation, but all members held equal power. There was no bigger player, no lead actor, they all had equal roles. If they pushed for more power, it would only paint a picture of a power hungry and controlling Konoha.

Without any hand being raised, Naruto continued where he left off, ''I have selected the Chair of the UNA's NEC and her deputy: The Mizukage, and Konan-san, both will be the chair and deputy, respectively.''

Murmurs broke out after this. They were no doubt complaining about the fact that Naruto was selecting leaders for them in their committee: a committee he had said it himself that he held no power, despite being a member.

''Where is the democracy in that?''

It was amusing to Naruto than anything, he held out his right hand and motioned for Mei to take the forth. The Mizukage calmly walked towards the center stage and stood on Naruto's right hand side. Silence settled in.

''I am Mei Terumi, Godaime Mizukage,'' Mei started nicely. ''I have been working with Naruto on this for some time now, and other than Naruto, there is no one who knows the laws and workings of this organization than me. The president chose me because of this. The UNA is still in its founding stages and we want someone who is more familiar with the inner workings.

Konan-san is the first member of the UN; her post was given as an honor. If you feel that you do not like either of us as leaders of the UNA, then you're free to vote for it during the UNA's Executive Committees conference. If you don't know, this is the UN's conference not an executive meeting, to be more precise, this is a general assembly.''

They couldn't vote on it now because non-executives were also in this meeting, and she had given them a good offer: vote her out and elect someone they thought more worthy to chair the committee, and she would happily relinquish her seat.

''Now that there is no problem with that, I will announce the UN's committee: the chair will be Namikaze Naruto, deputy: Subaku no Gaara, additional members will be, Konan, Kirihara, Masaki, Leader of Takigakure, and finally, whomsoever you choose as the Chair of the UNA's NEC will represent the committee in the UN's EC.

Masaki will act as General-secretary of the UN, and Kirihara will serve as the Treasure of the UN. The UNA will elect its own General-secretary during its conference.''

Mei picked up where Naruto left off, ''There are also two more committees that will have to be formed and will need your participation. These committees are the Judicial Committee, which is responsible for the judiciary system of the UN and the UNA. It will be responsible for creating laws. This committee does not fall under the control of anyone but its chair. However, they do report to the President of the UN and cannot approve of anything new law without the President's approval.

The second committee is the Disciplinary committee. It will have two bodies: the UN's Police Force and the UN's Supreme Court. This committee is an independent committee and is away from the influence of politics and even the president of the UN. This committee is to work in ensuring that all laws are followed and discipline anyone breaking them according to the law created by the Judicial Committee.

The Police Force will be a military force that will be a force that will be responsible for maintaining peace and order within allied nations. They have the power and authority to arrest anyone without consent found guilty of injustice, except for Anbu, Kages. They will need approval from a leader of which the suspect belongs to, if it is a Kage, approval from the Disciplinary committee. Anyone marked International criminal will be arrested without consent of anyone.''

After a few moments of silence, Naruto took after Mei, ''The Chair of the Judiciary and Disciplinary Committee will both earn seats in the UN's EC.'' He said. ''The supreme court will be responsible for delivering judgment to cases that are beyond the Police Force, such as members who violate the agreement, S-rank criminals, Anbu's and Leaders of villages, as well as active members within the structure of the UN. In short, anything that was S-rank will be handled by this court.

We can now begin with the voting for members of both the Judicial and Disciplinary Committees. First elect the nominees for different roles then we will begin with the voting.''

Once the nominees were made, members were given piece of paper to write who they have chosen. Once that was completed, they would put the sealed paper in a ballot. After which, Naruto and Mei would count the votes while everyone watches. The secret voting was done to reduce glares that would surely be sent to others for voting someone.

It took some time, but Naruto and Mei concluded everything else, and read out the votes. The elected candidates were presented before everyone.

All these took place smoothly without any alterations. The smooth operation was appreciated by both Mei and Naruto since it made things easy and ensured that they finished things in time. No one complained after the results.

''That went well,'' Mei said, a bit tiredly. The vote counting and shouting out people's name took more effort and energy out of her. She hadn't thought it would be this tiring. Naruto looked better though.

''Yeh,'' Naruto said with a smile. ''Thanks for your hard work, since there is only conclusions left, you can rest, I will handle the rest,'' he said.

Mei nodded and went back to her seat.

Naruto stayed silent for a few moments as he allowed the murmurs to die down. There were no surprises on those who were selected in the posts for the committees. He had already set up the Police Force's structure. He would have Shi head the department as well as the Information gathering. There was no one who was more qualified to head the Police Force than Shi. The man could operate the Force while leaving his associates to gather Intel. With Him in charge, he wouldn't have to worry about the Force going out of control.

It wouldn't be much work for Shi since there would be different divisions based on different Nations. He had so far planned to build four HQ for the Police Force; the Base Operation HQ will be situated in this island, as well as all offices of every department of the UN.

Naruto resumed after silence had settled in the hall. ''Before you all leave here, you will be given the proposed charter of the UNA. You will look at them, and offer your insight. When the UNA's NEC gathers for its first assembly, next month, you will decide whether to keep the proposed charter or make a new one. You will also be given the constitution of the UN - which will not be changed.

The UN also has its own charter, which I will offer for your knowledge.

Starting from next week, we will build an academy for the UN - for the purposes of teaching medical Ninjutsu - in the River Country. We will also build four offices of the UN in Wind country, Water, Waterfalls, and the Snow. The Supreme Court will be located in this island. Main offices of the UN will be located here. The UNA's HQ will be built in the Fire Country - when the Fire Lord gives us permission.

We will all meet in the 3rd of January for another General assembly, in this island.''

With that, Naruto held up only those selected to be in the disciplinary committee and the Judicial Committee. They would need to hold out their first meetings soon enough, and since they were a part of the UN, he needed them to sign some forms that would bind them to the laws of the organization and their respective committees.

For all fairness, Naruto wasn't included in any of these committees. He was already president and chair of the governing body of the UN. To avoid holding more power in the UN, it was decided that he shouldn't take part in any of these committees.

**Konoha**

Pleasant days were rather rare for Sakura when days came out rolling one by one in recent weeks. Things were supposed to have returned back to normal when Naruto returned from his training trip. They were supposed to form Team 7 again, and be one ''big happy family'', with her, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and her beloved Sasuke-kun. But when Naruto came back, things looked bleak. Her dreams were dented just by the look on his face.

Naruto had come back a completely different person: he was no longer that loud idiot she used to continuously yell at and blame for every wrong that occurred. The blond had returned as an impassive teenager who cared little for smiling and hanging out with his friends as he once often did back in the days. He'd even refused to have lunch with her. Back in the days, he would have jumped to take the offer and even say it was a date.

Sasuke was also another matter entirely: she couldn't even hold a good conversation with him. He would always brush her aside or just outright ignore her. Since his little defection was halted by Naruto's efforts, the Uchiha had come to truly embrace the dark side - in him - that was always lurking in the deep shelves of his heart. He had even become much colder and never gave anyone a second thought.

Even so, Sakura had hoped that when Naruto returned, he would lighten things up. His huge grins and loud voice as well as his obnoxious proclamations always made one feel something in the heart. She'd thought the charm would work on Sasuke and return him to normal. But it didn't happen.

Sakura sighed, looking over to her friends: they'd gathered again, as they often did to discuss matters relating their group. It was often after or before these kinds of meetings that she had even thought of stealing one of Tsunade's bottles and drown herself in the bitter taste of sake. Emotionally, it was draining just as her job at the hospital drained her physical energy.

''Things are never the same without him,'' Ino said with a sigh. ''Even though he was no longer the loud mouth we all used to love and hate, he was still Naruto and his absence is quite noticeable...''

She may not have been a big fan of the blond during those genin days, those younger and foolish days, but she could never deny that he always had a certain touch and charm about him. He was just the type of person you'd look at and feel better for no reason. Regardless of what, he was always their blond friend and more recently, the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and the only child of the Yondaime Hokage.

The two people who were hit the most by all that was happening around Naruto were Hinata and Sakura. The latter still had a Team 7 fantasies and wished for the team to get back together. Even she knew that was a lost cause - it was never going to happen, not with Sasuke and Naruto the way they are. Hinata's reasons were obvious to anyone, even a blind man. Ino could understand that the girl was hurting since she never got to say those words to him. What a pity.

''And the mood suddenly drops below 0,'' Kiba mumbled silently. Well, it wasn't like there was any lively mood to work with in the first place. Things had never been the same since Naruto returned from his training trip cold. In more ways than one, Kiba preferred the idiot blond who would be making him mad and grumble all the time.

Shikamaru sighed: since everything that has been happening recently, he couldn't blame anyone for being down. It didn't make much more difference to him how Naruto became after he returned, at least he wasn't troublesome. Still, a part of him really did appreciate the troublesome situation the blond brought - his mind would have something to work on.

''I wonder if Naruto will return,'' Ino suddenly said, all eyes turned to her for explanation, except for Shikamaru's who already guessed her reason. Ino wasn't the smartest, but she was quite perceptive of her surrounding: it did offer her a lot of gossip about after all.

''Don't tell me you guys haven't noticed... I mean aside from us, Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei, Naruto has no real connection with anyone in Konoha. To make matters worse, he wasn't making any effort to be connected with anyone. All he was focused on was his work.''

It was all true. Moreover, the blond stayed away from Konoha more often than not. It was not every day that you saw him within the walls of the village. He was always out, doing his work, or missions. If he was in the village, it was either he was with Lee, and Guy, his ''students', home or at the office. He didn't spend much time at any other places than he used to.

Ever since his return, he'd cut off a lonely figure. It shouldn't have been like that. Naruto was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Konoha's greatest hero, and Hokage. If Minato had been alive, the blond would have been treated like a prince within Konoha, he would have been loved, and he would have grown to be a fine shinobi who thought of nothing but protecting Konoha.

But things didn't turn out that way. Shikamaru had always noted that the villagers hated Naruto's existence. The reasons being now clear to anyone: he was a Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. What was even more baffling was the fact that Naruto didn't even attempt to explain things to them in a simple way so that they couldn't see him as the villagers did.

It was almost like he didn't care what they would make of him with the knowledge that he was a Jinchuriki.

Sakura knew too well what Ino was saying, but she didn't want to believe it, for her own happiness. ''I don't think that alone is enough,'' she said. ''It didn't happen recently, and if he really wanted to leave the village, he would have done so when the villagers could still glare at him without shame.''

Shikamaru nodded in acceptance of Sakura's statement. ''I will have to agree with Sakura on this one,'' he said. It didn't mean that Ino was by any means wrong. No, both she and Sakura were correct. ''The only reason ''fled'' is because they wanted to tie him down. For someone in his position being tied down was out of the question. Regardless of how you look at it, Naruto had no choice in the matter.''

All arrangements for the UN had already been made, and leaders of nations were already waiting in anticipation for the event to begin. Konoha wanted to tie him down, and that meant he wouldn't be able to keep true to his responsibilities. If anything, and Tsunade should've known this - Naruto took all his responsibilities seriously, regardless of how trivial.

If Naruto had allowed Tsunade to put him in a cell, he wouldn't have been able to fulfill his responsibilities as host and founder of the UN. Ultimately, all leaders he had spoken to, wouldn't have been pleased with him. To them, it would seem he was making a mockery out of them.

Shikamaru saw what Tsunade didn't see: the UN was bigger than Konoha. It wasn't just in Naruto's eyes, but everything about the organization spelled it was bigger than Konoha, than any other village or country. He had seen its membership list, and knowing how Naruto had become since his return, it wasn't anything small.

The simple fact was that Naruto chose the UN over Konoha. Yet at the same time, he offered Konoha a hand to follow him if it wishes to be part of the legacy he was building. The blond had already retired his duties as a shinobi of Konoha; officially, he was just a normal civilian. That meant that Tsunade had no authority to order him to do what she wanted. If he refused to follow Tsunade's orders, it wouldn't be insubordination because he wasn't her subordinate to begin with.

''I wonder how things are going on that island though,'' Tenten said, appearing thoughtful.

It was already the second day of the UN's conference, and she was really curious about how things were going there. No word was coming from the island. This only meant that one of the biggest events in the shinobi history was happening unwatched by the eyes of the world.

''We'll know when those sent return,'' Neji said calmly.

''I wonder why Tsunade-sama didn't go though,'' Ino said. ''I mean, Gaara, and the Mizukage are all there, as well as all leaders of other nations.''

''It's possibly for protection and the unresolved issues with Naruto,'' Knowing her temper, she wouldn't have been able to hold it down during the conference. Things tended to become nasty when she turned into one of her emotional outbursts. With the Naruto of late, he wouldn't accept any of that, and that would only fuel the Godaime further.

Shikamaru decided to explain after Neji had spoken. ''Iwagakure and Kumo are not participating in the event. With how things are going in the moment, it would be dangerous for her and Jiraiya-sama to leave the village. A symbol of power has to stay behind to insure that the village doesn't appear vulnerable to attack.''

''What about Suna and Kiri?''

A few moments of silence settled in before Neji responded. ''There could be another reason behind Tsunade-sama's choice,'' he simple said, but chose not to indulge the idea any further than he'd said.

''In any case,'' Shikamaru's tone was a little hurried, as he chose not continue with the current flow as it wouldn't them anywhere good, ''Naruto will return to talk things over once things cool down. When things are calm, the Hokage will be rational...'' he said the last words in a whisper more than anything. His voice picked up again as he continued. ''I can't say the same words about Sasuke though...''

It wasn't a secret that Sasuke has disappeared from the village, and nothing much was known about it. Looking at his track record, the conclusion was one: he may he defected.

''He can go,'' Kiba said casually. ''I don't really care about him and he's more of an ass than anything.''

The predictable glare from Sakura was sent straight at the Inuzuka, who did not cower, but held his head high in defiance.

**Naruto's quarters**

The more things worked for Naruto, the more he smiled, and the more he had reasons to be happy. The more he was smiling; he returned to his former self. But that could all change in a matter of a second if the situation was calling for a more serious expression. That didn't concern Gaara though: he was just happy that Naruto was smiling again; he was happy that the old Naruto would resurface again. It just needed some time and those around him to offer him a chance of happiness.

It was just him, Naruto and Mei. Konan had been here not so long ago. In fact, she was with Naruto for some time before he and the Mizukage made it here. If the stone face of the former Akatsuki woman was any indication, Gaara could guess that they were discussing some serious matters.

The room they were in wasn't that big, but it was big enough. Once you entered from the entrance, this was the room that greeted you: on the wall on the right side, there was a shelve, sporting a number of scrolls - there were no books. In the center, there was a wooden table surrounded by three couches. On the left side of the room, there was another door, going towards other rooms.

Gaara was sitting on the ''center'' couch, which was faced with the large TV that didn't work since there was no signal around the island. Mei was at the right side and the left was vacated as Naruto had excused himself not too long ago.

His brow furrowed when Naruto returned with a small bottle, possibly sake, and three saucers. Naruto had always stated that he wasn't a fan of drinking, even when celebrating.

Naruto placed the saucers on the table before pouring the sake, ''this is some of the finest sake you'll ever drink. It is from the Hidden Village of the Toads,'' the blond said a bit happily. He then pushed the saucers to each side before taking his seat.

''So your summonses live like us,'' Mei commented as she sipped in the sake. The moment bitter taste touched her insides; she felt small tremors throughout her body. The taste was just intoxicating - it was unlike anything she'd ever tasted before. ''This is really good - much better than the sake from Kumo.'' The village in the Lightning country was known for its finest sakes, and there probably wasn't any land that produced better sake than them.

''I haven't tasted sake from Kumo. In these rare moments, I only drink this sake,'' Naruto said before downing everything inside his saucer before placing it on the table. He didn't look he was going to pour himself another round.

Gaara had even yet to touch his. The Kazekage shook his head trying to kill off some thoughts, but before he could speak, Mei beat him to it.

''You should bring some of this to our date,'' she said smiling.

Gaara's brow quirked at that: he thought there was something going on between Naruto and Miyuki. No, it wasn't just his thought, even Temari thought as much. Given their recent interactions and the fact that Naruto had been staying in her palace over the past days, he could say that indeed something was going on. So if it was so, why a date with Mei?

''I wouldn't want you to be drunk on our date, Mei,'' Naruto said with a small smile. ''It wouldn't do well with my conscious if something happens while you're drunk. I'd think that I took advantage of your state...''

''I'm a big ''girl'', and I've been drinking for too long to get drunk on a good night. Besides, what could the President do to his Chair that she wouldn't like?'' A sly smile found its way on to her blue lips.

''I've hanged around people who can do many things to drunk people, and I've picked some of those habits. I assure, I am quite able to replicate the pattern,'' those people would be none other than ''Anko''. The snake mistress was a lot of things, and she certainly knew how to enjoy herself: drunk or not.

''Well, do bring the sake so I can see this. We won't know if you truly can replicate ''the pattern'' unless we give you the stage, now won't we?''

Before Naruto could respond, Gaara cleared his throat. ''As much as I would like to watch this scene,'' well that was an understatement: he certainly didn't wish to be a part of this kind of train, ''I believe you called us here for a reason, Naruto. If you haven't noticed, your guests are already starting to leave.''

Naruto sighed before adopting a neutral look. ''I wish to inform you that I will establish a special unit which will be called, United Covert Corps, in short UCC. They will answer directly to me and will be responsible for ''covert'' missions as well as keeping an ''eye'' on ''things.'''

A moment of silence passed before Gaara broke it, ''are you thinking of having the UN having its own darkness? While I will admit every village has its own darkness, but we can't run the risk of getting out because it could be disastrous.''

Naruto shook his head. ''If I wanted the dark side, I wouldn't have told you about this,'' he said, ever so simply. ''We're living in a world that is cruel, Gaara. Evil is always lurking, vultures are always parading in the heavens, searching for prey. Children and women are being torment everyday by perverted vermin. You cannot rid of all this without dirtying your hands. I am prepared to dirty my hands. I will however not do anything that will jeopardize our mission.''

''So what is the purpose of the UCC?''

''Like I said; covert missions. Anbu do highly ranked missions away from the public eye. But that doesn't mean that their missions are ''dark'', it only means the way of operation is more much efficient and it attracts little or no attention. The UCC will work on those silent missions, amongst other things. But I assure you, I will not have them do anything corrupted,'' Naruto said. He wasn't forming another ROOT. ''They will work with your Anbus. I wish for your nations to work well together.''

''Will you by any chance request that we send you the troops for this unit?'' Gaara asked.

Naruto shook his head. ''The security forces in this island will be part of the UCC, and Konan has offered me more than enough,'' he said. ''That said, I have another matter I am going to tell you: I will turn Uzu into a village once more.''

''Are you serious?''

''I am quite serious, Mizukage-dono,'' Naruto stated. ''I wanted to preserve the ruins as part of history, or something of sentimental value. But I have discovered that there are many who do not have a place to call home. As such, I will rebuild 2/3 of the island and keep some ruins around.

If I can have more people surrounding these UN buildings, it will make things lively. Even when the next general assembly comes, this place will not be dead silent. There are people who we're going to hire to be UN's staff. They will have to stay within this island for their work. It will be good for them to have other people around.

Should the Fire Lord deny us permission to build the UN's academy in his country, I will build it within this island. This way, it offers us the opportunity to keep our training secret from unwanted eyes. Should the parents of the children wish to be closer to their children, they will be welcome to move into the island.''

Gaara understood well enough: he understood that Naruto would be offering a home to those who didn't have a home. He understood it perfectly. But, ''do you know what this will mean Naruto?''

The blond nodded. ''I will have to remain here and oversee things. Even if it is only a little, the people will need a leader. Naturally, that will cause problems with Konoha, but I am prepared to tackle them,'' he said.

''Easier said than done,'' Mei said. He looked quite serious about the matter, and she could guess that he wasn't going to back down. Well, his reasons made sense and she would support him. ''But if there is anything you need, come to me.''

''Thank you, Mei,'' Naruto said sincerely.

Gaara sighed. He was forced to say those words Shikamaru loved, ''this is going to be troublesome,'' he said. ''But I have nothing against it. You will be offering the world a better service than you'd be staying in Konoha. Your choice is what is expected from the leader of a peace organization.''

''But this will open doors for more threats,'' Naruto sighed. ''This will be where I will need your support the most...'' he suddenly stopped and frowned noticeably.

''Something wrong?''

''No,'' Naruto said. ''I just have some guests,'' he said.

It didn't need a smart person to guess who these guests were. No doubt it was the Konoha group. ''I guess we will take our leave then,'' Gaara said.

''My clones will send you home after you finish packing your things'' Naruto said facing Gaara, he then turned to Mei. ''Expect my presence in the next few days. I will need to settle things here before thinking of other matters.''

Mei nodded. ''Just don't keep me waiting.''

Naruto smiled. ''I won't - that's a promise.''

**This is a bit late, the chapter I mean. Not much to say but thanks to ya all who reviewed. **

**The Omnipresent Sage**


	26. Chapter 26

**Page 26**

Life was such a mysterious thing: you can make plans for tomorrow, even go into great measures to ensure that your plans for the day ahead come into fruition, but when the forces of nature didn't want any of those plans to come to reality, no matter what you attempt to do, nothing will ever workout - well that is what most people believed anyway. Gaara didn't believe there was such a thing as fate, but he believed that one could make his own destiny. Of course, there are always forces that will always try to stand in the way.

But nothing ever beats determination and the unwavering will to succeed through it all.

The beginning of a journey can be easy, and it marked by many things. Only those who have enduring patience and unwavering faith and hope only make it through. The Fifth Kazekage hadn't master-minded his own rise to leadership, but there circumstances which he found himself in pushed him into this seat. He knew for certain that even though the Council of Sunagakure had put him as Kazekage, it was only because of his power.

Certainly, if they wanted someone matured and experienced in terms of leadership, they could have as well chosen Baki - he was experienced and commanded respect from other Jonins, he had also worked well with the previous Kazekage, he had been the fit candidate to be Kazekage, yet they chose him, an inexperience shinobi who was feared by most of the villagers, and a child no less.

They used him, but didn't actually think that he would do so well as Kazekage; they didn't think that a mere child like him would lead this Hidden Village in such a manner as he'd been. They'd thought putting him in power was a way to silence him and keep him from destroying the village, but he'd gone beyond their expectations. Though some still feared him, he was loved by many and many showed him so much respect he thought he didn't deserve.

He's been a Kage for some time now, and after everything he'd been doing, steering Sunagakure into the right path, patching the broken relationships between his village and Konohagakure as well as the Daimyo. He, Subaku no Gaara, the youngest Kage in the history of the shinobi world had succeeded in doing all that.

But his journey had yet to begin - all that had been just the foundation. Right now, he could see where Sunagakure was going, he could see where he was going, he could see the future, and it looked pleasant. Not long ago, he had no future, everything was blurry, and his life scrappy, miserable even, but now he had something, he was something, and that made him feel at ease.

Gaara turned away from the window - he had been looking outside through the window inside his office in the Kazekage tower. He turned back to his seat as his sister entered his office, without a word, he motioned for her to sit down so that they could talk.

After taking his seat, Gaara initiated the conversation, ''Temari,'' he started, keeping that blank look on his face, ''are you ''seeing'' anyone?''

Temari simply have her brother a stare.

Gaara stared back.

Silence reigned after Temari realized that her brother hadn't been possessed by a demon to make a joke, and that he was actually serious. Her dearest brother, who has never, not even once, or even attempted to ask anything about her personal, and she might even add that he doesn't even have a personal life of his own, had just asked her if she was dating anyone. This was coming from the impassive Subaku no Gaara, the man who couldn't laugh.

It was just unbelievable that her brother would ask such a question. Temari quickly realized that he wouldn't have asked her unless he had something in his mind. It would freak her out; even give her nightmares if her brother suddenly chose to become interested in her personal affairs. She knew well enough that any guy who came close to her would be investigated thoroughly to insure that he didn't have any evil intensions, and if he had, the conclusion was obvious:

**Subaku Soso.**

In a more plain way of saying it; a quick painless death. It often amused Temari just how protecting her brother was. He would certainly threaten any man with death if they ever hurt her, or even come close to doing it. It was good that she focused on her work than looking for man to fool around with. Temari snorted when she realized that she would never even get that chance as anyone would be scared away by the imposing stare of her impassive brother.

''What brings this up?'' Her arms were now folded across her chest, face stern. She gave him the kind of look that dared him to say something stupid unless he wanted to get his head banged up by the cold steel of her fan.

Gaara wasn't the least intimidated by the stare, his own expression never even changed, ''answer my question, Temari,'' he said. It wasn't like it was her brother asking her, but the Kazekage, of course that still didn't change anything to Temari.

''No,'' the blonde answered. She was fairly certain that he wasn't going to back down from until he got an answer, and trying to talk him out was no different than praying to the dead gods for Naruto to forget one of the promises he made.

''What of Shikamaru? I thought there was something there...''

Temari took her time before responding, and Gaara didn't rush - he just kept staring right into her eyes, unblinking. ''Why are you asking, Gaara?'' If he was going to be that way, then she could be like that. She was just as stubborn as he was. She was willing to allow the battle of his sand and her fan to play out before she could give in, figuratively, of course.

Gaara didn't take a second to respond to her question: ''I want you to do something, but of course, you'd have to agree to it before you do it. If not, then we can look at other options.''

''What?'' Tamari's voice was dangerously low as she was getting a sense of where her brother was taking this kind of conversation.

''I want you to marry Naruto-''

''What?!'' Temari was now on her feet, hands pressed firmly against the Kazekage's desk, upper body leaned forward a bit to get a closer at the man she called a brother. It was outrageous for him to even suggest such a thing, what did he think of her?

Gaara just continued like his sister wasn't giving him a death glare and was very close to attempting to tear him to pieces. ''- politically of course. You will be under no obligation whatsoever to be a real wife to him, or even touch him. Though political marriages to carry backlashes when broken off, we will create a loop in the contract that will allow your marriage to be called off after a period of time, on mutual agreement from both parties,'' that would only happen if she doesn't fall in love with Naruto before that time.

''You think your reasoning makes it okay, what if I am in relationship?''

Gaara stared at his sister blankly for a few moments before he responded. ''That is precisely why I asked you if you were seeing anyone. While I understand that something like that won't be easy, I'm still not forcing you to do anything. Like I said, the marriage will only be on paper.''

''Does Naruto know anything about it?'' She hoped he could say yes, just so she could have a good reason to explode right on his face. But his response disappointed her greatly. To some extent, it knocked off some of her energy and she slumped back to her chair.

''No,'' Gaara said with a shake of his head. ''Naruto knows nothing about it.''

''This isn't the first time you're proposing I marry Naruto. Last time Naruto managed to deal with that wretched scumbag. What is your reason this time brother?'' She gave Gaara a look that clearly told him that his answer better be good or he would face her wrath.

''Naruto is going to rebuild Uzushigakure. He may be powerful and his position as the president of the UN may give him some political power, but the UN is still an infant. It could crumble tomorrow, and it hasn't achieved anything. It will take time for most of the shinobi world and even other nations to recognize the UN. Right now, it has started smoothly because Naruto knows most of the leaders in a personal level.

If Naruto is going to be successful in rebuilding Uzu, if he is going to attract people into Uzu and affirm his standing, he needs to be connected. A friendship is seen as a fickle thing in the shinobi world, it is easily broken.

But if we connect you, a sister to the Kazekage, daughter of the previous Kazekage, we will give him more field to work. This will further the relationship between Uzu, Naruto, the UN and Suna. A marriage will expel any doubts people may have about our relationship.''

Temari absorbed it all silently. ''While this represents a good chance to strengthen our bond with Naruto, it will loosen our ties with Konoha. We're Naruto's main supporters, and Konoha will not support his choice to rebuild his ancestral home.''

''I understand that fully,'' Gaara said. ''But this is also works well for us too. There are still many doubters, but if we strengthen our relationship with Naruto, we ally ourselves with a powerful man. Naruto's friends will become out friends. Though I am not proud to say this, we're the ones who'll be taking advantage of him: Naruto will get in a good word for us to other nations, and we will get more allies, which will greatly strengthen Sunagakure.

Naruto has already organized a meeting with Princess Koyuki which I will try to acquire her advanced technology, amongst other resources the Snow has.'' Gaara paused for a moment before adding one last detail. ''If things go well, Naruto and I will create a technological company, which will hopefully become the largest in the Shinobi world.''

That would drive more infrastructural growth within Suna, and Uzu. It would increase their exports and bring more flow of money into the village, when they sell their products. It looked as though he was blackmailing his sister, but Gaara wasn't, he just wanted her to know all his reasons, and he knew that Naruto could be trusted with his sister. If anything, he would rather have her live forever with the blond in Uzu than pursuing a relationship with Shikamaru.

''You're still going to tell Naruto everything,'' Temari stated. There was no doubt her brother wouldn't withhold any of the information he'd just told her from Naruto. He was an honest person after all. ''You know, I'd always known I'd be used as a political tool for marriage since I am the only daughter of our father, and now the only sister to the current Kazekage.''

''You're not a tool, Temari, not to me, and don't see yourself as such. This is just a phase that will pass. You also have a choice to say no, and even if you say yes, you will still maintain your free will; you will still do what you wish. I've already told you haven't I? You will not be required to make this an actual marriage.''

Temari didn't give a response, she merely stood up, ''I'm going to get some air,'' she said. Gaara didn't object, he allowed her to leave without saying another word to her.

**Hideout**

In all his life, Sasuke had never felt so excited than this: today he was going to see his traitorous brother and finally get his revenge. He would be able to kill Itachi and focus on other things. The thought of killing his brother brought forth a dark chuckle from the back of his mind.

Juubi had been faithful to his word, he had his weird subordinate lead him to this hideout his brother used, he was told this was the place Itachi even trained Naruto. Of course the thought pressed all the red buttons within his mind. But he hadn't fully believed it, not until his traitorous brother said so with his own mouth, then he would fully believe it.

Sasuke finally jumped down into a clearing, appearing at the back of the hideout where the training ground was stationed. He immediately stopped when he saw his brother sitting in the middle of the training ground in a meditative position. It was as if he had been expecting him to arrive.

As if reading Sasuke's mind, Itachi spoke, ''Hello, Sasuke-kun, I have been waiting for you,'' he'd only known because Shi had told him of the development. If it hadn't been for him, Sasuke would've probably found him lying in bed.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly before offering a casual response, ''it seems so...'' he said.

Itachi smiled at his foolish brother, ''you've been chasing after me for a long time and I kept running away from you, but now I won't run away. So if you want answers before we fight, sit down.''

**Earth Country**

It wasn't often that Naruto felt so much excitement at the chance of playing politics and trouncing within hostile territory. But today was a little different. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of playing the role of a leader in Iwagakure.

The UN's general assembly had only been a few days ago and he was already working on other matters. He wanted to solve the mess with Iwagakure and even when he knew that he would most likely not get anything from Onoki than a demand for his humiliating death, he was still going to visit the man on a diplomatic mission. He wasn't in the village to fool around - he was here as President of the UN, and a delegate of Amegakure.

So even though the village had put a bounty on his head, they couldn't do anything to him on this visit without sparking an international incident. He was here on diplomatic terms, and that gave him immunity of any ''crime'' or persecution on this land.

Naruto was currently on a path towards the Village hidden in rocks. His current road was a land filled with nothing but small hills, and an uneven ground. Flanking both his sides were two men, his guards for this mission. Normally, he wouldn't accept guards to accompany him anywhere as he normally teleported, but since the matter was unique, guards were deployed for his protection.

Appearing without guards while on a diplomatic mission would've only infuriated Iwagakure to do something stupid. While he may have been tempted to do so, for his own safety he decided against it as he would only give himself more problems should they do something idiotic because of his daring appearance.

He was a little surprised that Onoki would accept his request to have a meeting and discuss the problem that faced the Tsuchikage's nation and him. He didn't dare think that the man would have accepted his call just to invite him into the lion's den. He hadn't specifically requested for the meeting to be held within the walls of Iwagakure, but Onoki had requested as such and he didn't object.

This gave him a chance to have a look at this Great Nation - there was no mistake that Iwagakure was a great nation and Naruto didn't fool himself to think otherwise. Iwagakure had as much history as other great nations and, one thing he'd found about this village was that its kages always lived long lives compared to the kages of other Hidden villages.

''Konan-sama gave me this final instruction: 'don't behave like a child in front of the Tsuchikage, and be safe,'' the guard on his right said as the gates of Iwagakure came into view.

One of the guards that were with him was from Amegakure since this matter dealt with the village and Iwagakure. He was here standing in the name of Uzu Amegakure and the UN, not the UNA. If he had been here for the latter, then he would have been forced to asked 'permission' from the UNA's Executive committee, which would have been bothersome since all leaders would have to be gathered. The easy way to do that was to bypass that by going through the disciplinary committee.

Naruto had played it the 'smart' way by transferring all members of the UN to the UNA. The only members of the UN were now only Amegakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and the soon to be rebuilt Uzushiogakure. These villages would be the core members of the UN, and ensure that the UN kept financed. Each member of the aforementioned villages was a member of the UN's NEC after all.

Even when the membership of other villages was transferred to the UNA, it didn't mean that they were no longer affiliated with the UN - they were affiliated with it and that is what bound the UN to work within their borders, and an overseer of the UNA.

''I will behave,'' though, I am a little excited than I should be, he finished in thought. Honestly, he should be worried about the matter rather than be happy about it. Onoki was probably going to tell him that he would keep hunting him until his head drop down the ground with eyes turned upside down.

He understood that Konan was worried since the results of the meeting would affect her village greatly, but she trusted him enough to allow him to negotiate on her behalf. It wasn't that things were 'great' between Amegakure and Iwagakure, no it was far from that. In simple words, it can be said that the relationship between the two villages was hostile, and didn't look to cool down any time soon unless some intervention colored both sides.

''Kurotsuchi was very infuriated with me, though,'' Naruto added in thought. ''She will no doubt want to be involved and will offer me nothing but hostility and curses,'' yet that didn't faze him, in fact he couldn't wait for it.

Perhaps he felt that he deserved it after what he did. He wouldn't be happy if his own men were killed on his watch. But he would understand that it was a battle and wouldn't waste his energy seeking something destructive as revenge - there was more to life than revenge and a thirst for blood.

''Let us just hope that we will not have a ''cat fight'' once that talks begin,'' the man on the other side said. Though he wouldn't say it aloud, it would be interesting to see - the cat fight. The reason it wouldn't be good was that it would only complicate things further.

''I doubt things will reach that point,'' Naruto said. ''Though Onoki is very stubborn, he isn't stupid by any means, and neither is Kurotsuchi: they are going to play this smart. Though, I don't think Kurotsuchi will be afraid to slap me if I say something she doesn't like.''

Regardless of how things looked, even if she slapped him, he wouldn't do anything or even assault her. Assaulting her would only paint a bad image of him, and since he had become used to the role of President of the UN, and soon to be Leader of Uzushigakure, and as a peace loving person, he wanted to stay away from violence. That didn't mean that he would stay away from training or even spars.

It was contradicting: he wanted to stay away from violence, but yet would continue to sharpen his knives. The contradiction was something that Naruto would have to live with because in this world, he would have to fight. There were many battles that lay ahead to be thinking of putting down weapons.

''It wouldn't be a surprise,'' the man on the right said. ''If you hit back, others will get involved and an ''accident" may likely occur. If that happens, we will have a major scandal that will only make unwanted tensions.''

Iwagakure knew that Naruto was only coming to them because Amegakure didn't want a war and he didn't want to die so soon. Knowing of his ideals as well, they would take advantage of it, to try to get what they wanted. But Naruto wasn't going to give in like that. He was expecting the blond to return to Uzu as happy as he is now.

''Let us hope things will take a favorable way,'' Naruto said as comfortable silence reigned.

They had slowed down their pace since they could very well see the gates of their destination clearly. More energy needed to be reserved as they would be travelling back home in a few hours or minutes, unless Naruto decided to teleport. But travelling on foot was better since they got to study the Earth's country geography. Staying here for the day would only be inviting accidents, and they didn't want any of that.

It was important that they leave in one piece, and as peacefully as they came. It was no doubt that a few stones may be thrown at Naruto if he was allowed to take a walk in the streets of the village. It was unlikely that Onoki would allow such a thing as it would only serve to infuriate the villagers, and they were likely to run riot - that was something you didn't want as a leader.

The guard on the right, Ryo, raised a curious brow at the number of Anbu that were patrolling at the gates. They were not travelling stealthily to say that the Anbu patrolling at the outskirts of the village wouldn't have noticed their presence, and their presence in the village was planned, still, he didn't think Onoki would send the whole Calvary to 'welcome' them into the village. The Tsuchikage wasn't present himself.

Aside from the Hidden Anbu, Ryo could see and sense potentially 10 Jonin who were at the gates, aside from the normal gate-keepers. It was almost amusing as it seemed like they were waiting for a dangerous criminal being brought into the village by a squad of S-rank hunter-nins. They were just three, and weren't carrying any weapons with them - not even a kunai or a shuriken pouch.

Despite being 'guards' for this mission, Naruto had them leave their weapons behind. Not even he was carrying a single weapon, he had even temporarily sealed off his storage seal - a seal which contained all his weapons; kunais, shurikens, swords, Hiraishin kunais.

''We are going to discuss a peace treaty between me, Iwagakure and Ame, why should we carry weapons like we are going for war?''

That was the question he had asked them when they questioned the need to leave their weapons. Although this was dangerous to their safety, Naruto had assured them that the path they were going to take was safe, as Shi had drawn up a safe route which had them avoid any camp while travelling towards this village. Even if something had come on, Naruto told them they would have to fight with their bare hands or make a run for it.

Ryo didn't like the idea of running away from the enemy, but he understood that Naruto wasn't exactly saying they should run, he was emphasizing that they were going to fight with their hands if an enemy does come, and the only reason they would be fighting with their bare hands was that they would not be fighting to kill but to subdue the enemy who wants to harm them.

'No killing, unless given the order.' This was one of the rules of the UCC and the UN Police Force. The Police Force's job was not to kill, but to maintain peace and order by arresting those who threatened the peace. There are those dangerous criminals who are beyond repair, those were left for the UCC, and the Covert Corps, could cross that boundary.

Being a member of the Police Force meant that one could run away from the shinobi life. It was possible to live your life in the police force and retire without spilling anyone's blood. This was the kind of force that one wouldn't think twice of sending ones child into joining since they wouldn't be faced with bloodshed. Naruto's goal was to have shinobi reduced, and replaced with Police Force who operated by a code of good ethics and morality.

''Halt!''

Predictably, the guards forced them to halt their movements before they could even set foot in their village despite it being obvious that they were clearly waiting for them to arrive. Ryo nearly rolled his eyes when the guards proceeded to ask them who they were and they wanted, while simultaneously sending murderous glare at Naruto, who was ''oblivious'' to the glares, as he continued smiling a bit carelessly.

Naruto answered the obvious questions with a smile and even went on to tell their names to the guards. Ryo hadn't thought that Naruto would do that since he could've just told them 'it was for their own safety that their names keep hidden.' Reasons didn't need to be given; they would understand the meaning of the words. But the blond carelessly told their names and even went on to produce the required documents, while keeping a smile that was noticeably annoying the guards and the Jonins around them.

Once that was cleared, a full squad of Anbu flashed around them before stepping into the front to face Naruto. ''You're coming with us,'' despite the tone being monotone, it clearly lacked respect amongst other things, and the man wasn't making a request, he was clearly demanding.

Ryo wanted to object such attitude towards Naruto, but the blond silenced him by a right hand waving him off. ''What of these two?'' the Anbu had clearly singled him out, so he was curious of what would be done about his guards.

The Anbu responded in the same monotone voice earlier, ''they will be sent to a hotel and locked until you finish your talks with Tsuchikage-sama,'' the Anbu said. ''Besides, we wouldn't want anything happening to them when they are still within the protection of the Tsuchikage.''

Load of bull...Ryo thought distastefully. They just wanted to keep them from watching over Naruto as well keep them from exploring much of the village. It was no doubt that word would travel soon, but unless someone pointed at them, then even Zombies would be after them. Nevertheless, they were both Anbu-level shinobi, so they would be able to defend themselves while securing an escape route.

''Fine, I will accept this,'' Naruto responded after a few moments of silence. ''Behave you two,'' he said. Both men nodded in affirmative of the 'order:' if Naruto wasn't complaining, they wouldn't complain either.

The Anbu captain then walked closer to Naruto before placing his hand on the blond's shoulder, and they then disappeared. The remaining Anbu, stayed behind to show Naruto's guards the way to the hotel.

Ryo sighed: despite appearances, they had assumed that something of this nature would occur. He just hoped that nothing happened to Naruto while they were confined in the hotel. They could've refused to leave Naruto's side, but Iwagakure was counting on the fact that it was them who actually needed these talks to be a success - they could just continue as they have been without worry.

However, they did understand that things couldn't stay as they were for the long run. The UN will only become stronger as its days add; Naruto will also become powerful by virtue of being of the UN's leader and founder. By then, killing him will only become harder and if they do succeed, they will only be inviting the wrath of his many allies.

Sighing once more: Ryo nodded to his comrade and they allowed themselves to be led towards the hotel.

**Tsuchikage Office**

Onoki kept a stern face as he waited for Naruto to appear before him and his granddaughter. He didn't want Kurotsuchi to be present, but she had forced her way in the damn 'meeting' because it was her men that Naruto had killed and she had to be here when he spoke as he had to answer to her for his actions. What he did know was that she only wanted revenge for the embarrassment she faced and there was the Yondaime 'thing.'

The thought even made him sigh inwardly: while he held no hatred to Minato for what happened during the Third Shinobi World War, he couldn't let the fact that Naruto killed many of his men over things that didn't concern him and outside of his territory. He had spoken to the Lord of the Rain country about the matter. Using technicalities, he could say they were allowed by Lord of Rain to match over his country.

Naruto wasn't within his bounds to stop his match and thus was the guilty party. Intensions didn't really matter, if they were speaking about technicalities in the matter. He would be facing a major backlash if his army had actually been successful in getting into Amegakure, then those people would surely make some craze demands that he would be forced to follow.

As it stood, he could deny that he was ever intending to invade Amegakure, or he could just say the Rain Lord hired him because he didn't have any control nor a say in the village despite it being located within his country. But that still didn't make things any more favorable than they were now.

In all honesty, he was interested in hearing what the blond had to say. If he was saying that they were planning to invade Amegakure, then he would have to prove it with tangible evidence, not theoretical evidence that hold no power over him. Still, he would rather have the blond die than anything. There pressure from the people was becoming too much for his old mind, and his shoulders were no longer strong as they used to be, to be able to hold off the burdens.

Yet, he refused to retire.

His narrow look turned onto his granddaughter who was likely going to be his successor. She had a rather focused look on her face. Probably sorting out her thoughts, he thought mildly.

Kurotsuchi's body tensed slightly as an Anbu flashed into the room with Naruto. The Anbu didn't say anything than a slight bow before leaving the office. Her gaze became scrutinizing when she noticed just what exactly it was that he was wearing: he was wearing Kage robes, but instead of the traditional white, his were blood-red and a few lines of white. He even dared to have the hat loose at the back of his neck.

''What is the meaning of this?!'' Onoki demanded sternly with a heated glare. It was just outrageous for someone who isn't a Kage to wear those robes - it was an insult to them Kages and he wasn't going to allow blasphemy like this to occur before his very eyes.

''How do you wear Kage robes, Do you even know what wearing those robes mean, where did you even get them anyway?'' Kurotsuchi threw in a few questions, while she gave Naruto the same glare as her grandfather gave the blond.

She felt her stomach twist when Naruto's blue eyes only glowed vibrantly as his lips parted into a 'happy' smile. It was like he was acting ignorant to their glares, like he didn't see them or he had just brushed them aside. The thought made her blood boil at his boldness and she gritted her teeth in frustration. Even she wouldn't smile like that when facing such heated glares.

Naruto's tone was light, a bit careless, but calm, when he responded - he was also checking out the robes, touching them at both asides as he spoke. ''Apparently the leader of Uzushigakure wore this robes; I found them while searching through the ruins. Since each leader of Uzu wore them, I thought why not? Besides, it really feels nice when wearing them.''

He was a complete opposite of what he was back then when he killed off her many men during that battle. This wasn't the cold-hearted man she witnessed run through her men like a machine going through maize during the harvesting season. He had killed her men mercilessly, even though he looked sad during the end of the battle, he had still done the deed.

It was just insulting to her and her fallen men for him to stand up and talk like that as if the world is free and that nothing ever happened. She felt sickened by the sight of his smile and his careless tone. How could he smile while the families of her men were crying at the loss of their loved ones? How could he be like that when she was crying and seething in the inside because of his actions?

If anything, she should be rejoicing, and he should be the one feeling what she was currently feeling. If she could, she would project the images of his gruesome death in her hands and see if he would still be smiling.

Onoki was not the least amused by Naruto's response; it even showed in his tone that he wasn't a happy man. ''You said only leaders of Uzushigakure wear those robes, and until recently, Uzu was nothing but ruins after the invasion that destroyed it during the Second Shinobi world war.''

Naruto nodded. ''Yes, I didn't mistake that,'' he said. His smile grew by a few inches; his eyes became closed, and some embarrassment flashed upon his face while he scratched the back of his head. ''I travelled all the way from Amegakure without taking a rest and I'm really tired - is it okay if I take a seat?''

Onoki was tempted to have the boy remain standing, as he knew it would only please his granddaughter, but he sighed and motioned for the blond to take a seat. ''Why are you wearing those robes?'' The last time he hadn't been specific, and so he figured he didn't get a response he was looking for from Naruto because of it.

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, while managing to make it look like he was careless so that he didn't offend Onoki by a clear dismissal of his question. ''That is a subject for another day, Sandaime-sama,'' he said politely, his smile now thinned. ''How are the two of you doing anyway? And this, if my memory serves me right, is the first time we meet, Sandaime-sama...''

Managing to twist the polite question into an insult, Kurotsuchi sneered before responding in a sarcastic manner. ''We are delightful, couldn't you tell?''

Naruto cocked his head to the right, all while staring at the black haired woman. ''Nah, I couldn't tell,'' he said, despite knowing she was being sarcastic. Of course that did nothing but increase the intensity of Kurotsuchi's glare leveled at him. ''I'm also well, thanks for asking,'' the blond finished, returning his eyes to the Tsuchikage.

Kurotsuchi continued to glare at him at the thought that he was mocking her and adding to her growing frustrations, her glare was doing nothing to unsettle him - he still remained perfectly calm and looked a lot more comfortable than she would like of him. If he could just drop dead to the ground and die, then she would at least relax. She wouldn't be satisfied as nothing but his death in her hands would satisfy her.

''Can we get on to the business of the day?'' Naruto asked quietly.

Onoki nodded, his look still stern, gaze hardened, ''talk,'' he instructed. He was the one who called for this meeting; naturally, he should be the one to have things to say to them. Having his face on their bingo book was their message, and it was clear even to the dim-minded.

''I want you to remove my name from your bingo books,'' Naruto said calmly.

Kurotsuchi laughed, it was nothing more than a bitter laughter. ''Are you retarded? Do you really think we are just going to take off your name and call off all attempts for your capture just like that?'' Her lips twisted into cold smile, ''your name will be removed once I get your head on the palm of my hand.''

Trying to be sensible, Onoki shifted from his granddaughter's way of thinking and asked a question. ''Why should we do that?''

''My name is only there because you're a proud man who can't accept what happened. I don't need to prove that you were trying to invade Amegakure - both of us know that, and because I was successful in repelling your invasion, you have branded me as a criminal? Why simply because I protected my ally and killed some of your men.

If your men had succeeded in reaching Amegakure, Konan would have killed them all, and she would've taken things personally before striking back. Tell me, would you have branded her as a criminal for protecting her people against your wrongs? I don't need to tell you that invading another village unprovoked is wrong.

The deaths of your men are your own fault. Take responsibility - I mean this to both of you. I warned you, Kurotsuchi, but you didn't listen. Do you fault me even after I warned you? Do you fault me even when you know trying to invade Ame was wrong in all sense of the word?''

''You're blaming me for their deaths? Even when you're the one who killed them?'' Kurotsuchi looked shocked by his words, even her eyes were wide in shock.

''That is all according to interpretation,'' Naruto said. ''There are consequences to each choice, Kurotsuchi-san. You made a choice to continue, even after I warned you to return; you made a choice to invade another village. Didn't you ever think that your men would die? Didn't you ever think that Amegakure would defend itself? How naive!

Your grandfather has lived past many wars, and if he can't understand what I am saying, then the wars haven't taught him anything. But considering how far this village has come, I would say he has obtained much wisdom. But it is only his stubbornness, pride and the pressure from the villagers that make him side with you. Correct me if I am wrong, Sandaime-sama...''

The look on Naruto's face and his words really caught the Tsuchikage off-guard. He wasn't expecting such a young fellow to slap the truth into his face like this. The blond wasn't talking politics or anything, just plain truth that wasn't even colored.

There were consequences for every action, and choices. He had ripped his fruits after trying to get into Amegakure forcefully. He understood that in war both sides lose something and that he wouldn't have branded Konan a criminal or even demand for her head because she had protected her own village. He had been wrong to make that move, and this boy was telling it like it was.

He had demanded compensation from Konoha and they were ready to discuss things out as they didn't want a war with his village. They didn't even have the courage to tell him to fuck off. He knew Tsunade wouldn't have paid him anything and would certainly not have given him Naruto, but their response was so different. This one wasn't afraid to tell it like it was.

Onoki burst out laughing after slowing down his flow of thoughts. His laughter zapped his granddaughter out of her frozen trance, and it didn't stop until a couple of minutes passed.

''I thought you were going to come in a much humble way considering the look you had when came here. False security, maybe,'' Onoki said after his outburst.

''I could've,'' Naruto admitted. ''But if I had done that, it wouldn't have solved anything. I don't want incidents like this happening again, and if I don't make both of you realize that you're to blame for the deaths of your men, you would just do it again.

Kurotsuchi has to look at things from my and Amegakure's point of view as well,'' Naruto looked at the woman on his right. ''I respect your love for your village, and I know you'd do anything to remove anything that threatens it. What you fail to understand is that you're not the only one who loves your village; If Konan had matched her army towards Iwa with the intention of invading it, would you have slapped her and told her to return home?''

Kurotsuchi gritted her teeth in anger and bitterness. She knew full well that if it had been her in Naruto's position, she would have killed them all, while enjoying herself in the meantime. She would have done far worse than what he did. The realization only made her angry, not at herself, but it at Naruto. It had to be his fault.

''For a gaki, you're not bad,'' Onoki said mildly. ''Was it all that you wanted?''

Naruto shook his head before responding, ''I am truly sorry for the loss of your men, Kurotsuchi. I know that as a commander, your subordinates care is in your hands, are you failed your task. Again, I am truly sorry.''

Kurotsuchi's whole body heated up as anger begun to reach a new high: just by looking at his eyes, she could see the sadness in him and she could tell that he was truly sorry. But the reality only infuriated her further as it threatened to shatter everything she believed it. She refused to accept his honesty, as well as apology, it changed nothing.

''My actions resulted in some families losing their source of income, and if you allow me, I can insure that those families don't suffer financially because of all our choices,'' Naruto offered.

''We don't need your pity,'' Kurotsuchi retorted.

Naruto merely smiled comfortably in response before offering his verbal response. ''It isn't pity dear,'' he said. ''You're also wrong: I don't wish to do this for you, but for those who lost their loved ones, so there is no you in the picture. Consider this as me taking responsibility my own actions.''

Kurotsuchi interpreted his words as 'I am doing what I can to make up for my actions, what are you doing?' That didn't please her and left a bitter taste in her mouth when realized that she had been so focused on her revenge that she completely forgot about those people.

''I will not give you the chance to clear your conscious,'' she finally said.

Naruto didn't appear downed by her response, in fact, his smile widened. ''As long as you show that you truly care by taking care of them, I won't have problems, and I definitely won't be forced to send money at night just to insure that they are not starved.''

Seeing that Naruto was easily getting under Kurotsuchi's skin, Onoki intervened, ''was that all?'' Naruto nodded. ''While you carry some truth, I refuse. Your name will remain in the bingo book, and since I have now dealt with your first hand, I will even increase your bounty.''

''I see,'' Naruto started. ''I will not lay my life for you to take, and any attempts on my life will be repelled as well as any attempt of invading Amegakure again,'' he then stood up. ''When I chose to wear this robes, I told myself that I wouldn't commit any unnecessary bloodshed. My hands are already bloodied, hence these robes are blood-red, but that is enough. I may end up killing again, but no more will they be masses.

I will no longer protect by killing, but I will protect by other means. There is enough space to lock down those who can't be civil without killing them. As president of the UN, I pardon you this once for your actions. If you do something like that again, I will not kill your men, but I will take them before a disciplinary court. They will be charged and sent to prison. I will have no problems, in dragging both of you before a court of law.''

Onoki narrowed his eyes, ''are you threatening us?''

Naruto shook his head. ''No.'' he said. ''Kurotsuchi, revenge is a disease that will eat you alive until you die. It does nothing but robs you of your happiness and it will make you miserable. Just look at yourself? You've already forgotten some important values about life, you no longer smile as you used to. Ask yourself why.'' He gave her a sad smile. ''I truly hope you will soon understand all that I have said. Perhaps if you do, we may become friends. Ja ne.''

He flashed away in a yellow flash towards the mark on Ryo.

''I'm going home,'' Kurotsuchi spoke through gritted teeth and walked away.

**Konoha**

''Hime, Naruto isn't coming back anytime soon. He said he was staying behind in Uzu and wishes to rebuild it and make it a home to those who've lost their families and those without homes. He also stated that given his vast responsibilities, Konoha shouldn't expect him any time soon,'' Jiraiya had taken a pause at the next punch line. ''I would rather be surrounded by people who look up to me for protection and for a better life than around ignorant people' those were his last words.''

It has been 6 minutes since Jiraiya said those words, and 7 minutes since Tsunade turned mute. He had expected her usually outburst of 'WHAT' but it didn't come. It was almost as if she was expecting something like this to happen. She had remained deadly silent as though her worst nightmare had come to a reality. Jiraiya hadn't uttered a word or even disturbed her as she kept her unmoving expression. He didn't really want to be in the end of another beat down by the Godaime Hokage.

It was very heart breaking even for him to hear the blond say that he had chosen to rebuild Uzushiogakure. He had thought that Naruto and Konoha had a future, but that future didn't seem to have any hope because if Naruto successfully rebuilds Uzu, he would be tied down within it and wouldn't think of returning to his 'home.' While it was a bitter pill to swallow, Uzu was also his home, and much more of a home than Konoha.

It wasn't his dream for Naruto to leave Konoha - no, he didn't even think that Minato would have wished for Naruto to choose this path. Even so, he wasn't doing anything evil, so he had no doubt Minato would've been proud of his son and would've given him all his support in rebuilding Uzu. But he couldn't be proud as Minato would've been. He was proud of Naruto's founding of the UN, but his new choice didn't please him, and it would certainly not please the council.

The villagers wouldn't be touched by his choice. They seemed happy to know that he was away from them. But Jiraiya still believed that Konoha needed Naruto and Naruto needed Konoha. He could do everything he wanted to in Uzu right here in this village. And given Konoha status, it would only make things easier for him and he would win the support of some people by doing more good work while they watched.

But Naruto had chosen and there was no changing his mind. It was his fault that things had come to this. If he hadn't abandoned Naruto back then, if he had acted like a godfather to Naruto, none of this would be happening. Naruto would've grown to be a loyal shinobi to Konoha and perhaps he would have worked well to change the villagers' opinions about him. His foolish choice to run away had brought upon this situation. When things had looked well between him and Naruto, he'd thought all was okay, but he had been wrong, very wrong.

Tsunade opened the lower left drawer and took out a picture of Naruto - it was taken just after she had returned to the village: he was wearing that large grin and those eyes of his glowing with naive happiness. She saw her family in him, he saw a grandchild, a son even. Jiraiya was her long-time friend, but Naruto had become like her family, something she really wanted. Shizune was there, but no one was quite like that brat.

''Kakashi says he is returning to his former self,'' Tsunade finally said, her eyes were still locked on the frame, and her tone revealed none of her emotions.

Jiraiya actually frowned at her tone, but he wiped it off as he responded to her question. ''Yeh,'' he started calmly. ''He is not quite there yet, but he is getting there,'' he did think it was somewhat of a mask though. But he wasn't going to say it aloud, not when it was mere speculation. Naruto was capable to many things, but he didn't think he would put on that kind of a mask to fool everyone. However, with everything, you could never know.

Tsunade smiled sadly, ''I wish I could see that smile of his once more,'' she said. ''He means so much to me, Jiraiya. Even though I yell at him, I love him. He is the reason I even came back to this godforsaken village. I can't really imagine what it would be like without having him as my soon to be successor.''

Jiraiya could make out that she was hurting, but she was surprisingly keeping it together. Getting hold of her emotions has never been Tsunade's quality, but she was doing it far better than he would have expected of her. To say that he was surprise wouldn't be a great exaggeration. He knew first-hand how much Naruto meant to the woman; this is why he was honest with her about the reality of the situation. It wouldn't do any good if he had withheld any other information from her.

''I still wish that he return one day and live those words one day: I will be Hokage one and become the greatest, surpassing the even Yondaime!'' Tsunade's sad smile deepened when she thought of when she first met him. He was learning the Rasengan, and she hadn't thought that he would master it in such a short time. She'd nearly cried, perhaps may have even shed a few tears when she thought he'd died during his confrontation with Kabuto. She recalled how at ease she was when his heart beat became normal again.

Since he changed his name, most things about Uzumaki Naruto were discarded. Jiraiya was at least thankful that there was no bad blood between Naruto and Konoha. Tsunade may have threatened to arrest him, but he'd told the blond that the Godaime was just worried and nothing of that sort would happen to him, and that he could return any time he wanted. Unfortunately, Naruto turned him down in favor of his new dream.

''Me too,'' Jiraiya said. ''We should visit him some day; perhaps your visit may drill some sense into him and make him reconsider about rebuilding Uzu.'' The Sannin offered with a small smile.

''Perhaps we should...'' Tsunade muttered, losing herself in deep thought, again. ''This time I will beat him hard enough that even the Kyuubi will have a difficult time healing him,'' some anger was starting to surface now in her tone and eyes. Jiraiya was certain she was going to explode any time soon, hence his decision to change the subject.

''What do you think happen if Naruto succeeds in rebuilding Uzu? He has enough power, and allies to make it happen...'' well, that wasn't much for changing the subject - they were still on the same train.

Naruto had Kiri, and the Wind country behind him - they could support him in the rebuilding of the former peaceful village. The blond did not appear to struggle financially, if all the projects his UN seems to be willing to start are to suggest anything. He hadn't asked any of the UNA members to supply any funds for the time being, which meant he had what he needed to begin with all the projects he was intent on starting. Surely, they were going to demand millions and he will eventually dry out. It would be interesting to see if Tsunade would be willing to be help.

He highly doubted it though.

Tsunade shook her head, banishing any wayward thought of Naruto sitting behind a desk within his own office in Uzu, Anbu bowing at him saying 'Namikaze-sama.' She dared not have seconds of those kinds of thoughts. The only village Naruto was going to lead under her watch was Konohagakure no Sato, the village his father died to protect. Besides, the elders wouldn't allow it to be as he wants as they would say the Kyuubi is a property of Konoha.

''That won't happen - I won't allow it,'' Tsunade said firmly, while Jiraiya merely shook his head at her stance. ''What is expected of us anyway? Within the UN I mean. You're part of the disciplinary committee and Shikaku or Shikamaru will be sent to the Judiciary Committee.''

''I don't know for sure, but both Committees are stationed in Uzushigakure. Naruto said since not everyone will be able to be at Uzu all week, we will either be required to meet every weekend or Tuesdays and Thursdays: this is for the disciplinary committee. The Judiciary Committee will have its own schedule, but I think they will only be meeting once a month,'' Jiraiya said. ''Within the UNA, nothing has been set as of yet, we're still going back in December or the 3 of January. It is only then we will know.''

The Fifth Hokage nodded, ''it would've been a lot better if he was here to explain it all himself.''

The Toad Sage wisely decided against commenting on the matter.

**Training ground 7**

It wasn't even five years ago that Naruto was shouting something, while simultaneously sending Sasuke a not so subtle competitive glare. Naruto was always competing; perhaps it was because the Uchiha always made the blond look bad. But when Naruto became strong, it was Sasuke who was looking up to the blond. Kakashi had known that Naruto's rapid growth would spur in some action from Sasuke. If he was being blunt, and speculative, he could say the only reason Sasuke's desire to leave was strengthened wasn't because of the cursed seal, it was because of his jealousy towards Naruto.

Despite it being a couple of years, it felt like it has been ages since he last saw those two glaring at each other within this training ground, with Sakura in the middle while he simply chose to watch from the side. The memories were slipping away under the tsunami that was threatening rip apart everything he'd tried to build. No, everything was already lost, he had achieved nothing.

He couldn't even look at one of his students and say they are what they are because of his great work. Naruto had become wonderful without him, even the growth that made Sasuke feel threatened wasn't because of his hard work, it was because of Jiraiya. Sasuke had been trained well by Danzo. He may have also seriously trained the Uchiha, but he didn't hold any of his teachings. Sakura had improved rapidly, to the point where he didn't want to be unfortunate enough to be at the receiving end of her punches, and that wasn't because of him, it was all Tsunade's work.

He had failed as a sensei.

Minato-sensei would be disappointed.

At least he could still smile at the fact that Naruto was doing well, despite his own shortcomings. He may have failed, Jiraiya may have failed, but whoever had trained Naruto had done well. The blond was working towards a change in the elemental nations. He had failed Naruto before, and he wouldn't fail him again. Obito's eye was going to be used to protect the blond, and insure his and by extension, Minato's dream comes to life. He would support the blond, to make up for his losses.

What gave him the utmost confidence in believing that Minato would support Naruto's dream was that the dream was to make this shinobi world a better place to live in. He was happy, proud even. Still, since Naruto had decided against returning to Konoha, it was unlikely that he would get much support from the Hokage who was certainly and firmly against the idea of rebuilding Uzu. He had no problems with it, it was after all making a difference in the world.

''Kakashi...'' Gai's rather loud voice uprooted the Jonin from his flow of thoughts - he was sitting down the ground, leaning against a tree trunk, while his precious was on his left hand. In all truth, he wasn't even reading it. ''You look down my friend...''

Kakashi sighed and closed his book. Friend? Yes, Gai was definitely his friend. In fact, he was much more of a friend than anyone. ''What are you doing here, Gai?'' It better not be one of those challenges the man was always looking for. While they did well to uplift his spirits, he really wanted to settle down his thoughts.

''I was looking to challenge to rival once more, but I see that you are in need of a friend,'' Gai then flashed one of his smiles, before leaning against the same tree as his eternal rival.

Kakashi was tempted to roll on the sarcasm by saying: 'what gave that away?' But he swallowed that unnatural thought and looked down as he spoke, ''Naruto isn't going to return to Konoha,'' the Jonin said. Even Sasuke was not returning to the village - he had fled, again. According to Naruto, the Uchiha is on a path to find his brother.

''I see,'' Gai said in thought. He didn't sound the least surprised, a fact Kakashi rightly pointed out.

''You don't sound surprised by this revelation. It is as though you were expecting it,'' the copy-ninja said. He was certain that Tsunade was still keeping it within their little circle, until she could speak to the blond herself. No doubt to try persuading him otherwise.

''You forget my rival; I spent more time with him along with Lee than anyone. He always trained with us each day he was in the village,'' no doubt Lee was going to be saddened, especially with how much fun they used to have while training. The boy was going to miss his training partner, and Naruto was definitely a good influence on Lee. Lee may have been excellent in taijutsu, but he was mediocre at best in other areas. The worrying thing was Genjutsu, and Naruto had been helping his beloved student in the area by the usage of seals.

''Oh...'' another reminder of his failure. If he had been much more of a sensei to Naruto, the blond would've trained with him than Gai. The Taijutsu expect was a better sensei than him - that he couldn't deny. Everyone would agree with that thought.

''Don't be sad about it Kakashi,'' Gai said. ''Naruto's choice to training with us was because Lee and I offered more to learn about Taijutsu.'' Gai paused for a moment. ''I knew that he would one day leave this village to follow his dream.''

''Why?''

Gai smiled before he responded. ''When we look at things, we restrict them to Konoha as our only care. But his view is not through the window of his apartment - he looks at things from above. He shared his dream with us, and I liked it.''

Naruto's dream was bigger than Konoha, Kakashi acknowledged that much. ''It must've taken a lot for him to make the choice to leave a village his parents died protecting,'' but then again, it was the same village that made him suffer because he was Jinchuriki.

''Perhaps,'' Gai said stroking his chin. ''Naruto once told Lee these words: 'Lee, being alive means having the freedom to make a choice. You must always exercise your free will, and you will always feel alive. As a shinobi of Konoha, you have a duty of protecting the village, but if you devote your entire being to that, you stop living. I am no longer a shinobi of Konoha, and if I leave, I may be called a traitor, but that is okay. What matter most isn't what the world thinks of you, but it what you think of yourself and what is in your heart. Even though I am no longer a shinobi of Konoha, I will always fight to protect what my parents died for. Lee, you must always follow your heart and ideals. Do what you feel is right, and you'll never be miserable with your life.''

**I don't really have much to say for this chapter, but I truly hope that it was better than some of the previous chapter I've been posting.**

**I'll try to show more of other characters' pov as the story continues.**

**Nothing is planned between Naruto and Temari. For now, they can only become good friends. **

**Another matter that I must say now is that the pairings won't just be Miyuki only, but it will also include Yugito. After her little interaction with Naruto, it wouldn't be fair to leave her dry.**

**There is a chance that we will have other political marriages, but Naruto's lovers will be those two... The main pairing will remain as I've always said; NarutoXMiyuki. That is not to say Naruto will give Yugito less time.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Filling Uzu with people was going to be a long process, but Naruto was content with having a few people. If he could just have a few families in the island, it would be easy to protect them as well as look after them. There would be many people since he had to accommodate UN academy's students who would be living within the island - the plans to build the academy within the Fire Country had failed and so in the end, he'd chosen to build it within Uzushigakure.

It was a lot better this way since he could look after the academy while in the confines of his wonderful ancestral home. They academy was already being built by thousands of his clones to speed up the process. He only needed a professional builder to show him direction and the blue-print and he could do everything on his own. The same could be said about the new homes he was building around the UN's buildings.

What he had decided to do was build different districts of buildings, around the UN's building - not each building that would surround the HQ would be homes for civilians though. The homes would surround some parts the UN's buildings. A small portion would be left as the market street, or shopping district, followed by the hospital, civilian academy, UN academy, another lines of homes for Police Forces, his own home, Uzu's Tower, and the last buildings would be for more civilians' homes.

Over the past days, he's been looking around in the fire country for a good location to build the UN police force HQ, and for those without homes. He was also on his way towards the Leaf Village to meet with Hyuuga Hiashi on clan matters - well, it involved the man's clan.

Naruto dropped down a tree and landed down the ground. ''What do you want, Orochimaru?'' He demanded with narrowed eyes. He's been within the Fire Country for a few days now, but he hadn't thought that the snake would find him so easily even though he wasn't exactly staying at one place.

The snake Sannin appeared from the ground, just away from Naruto, and stood in front of the blond, hands folded across his chest. The eternal grin was present on the snake's face. ''Is this how you greet me now, Naruto-kun? I thought we were going to be collaborators since our last meeting...'' Orochimaru said with a playful stone and a smirk.

''I don't really have the patience to deal with you, Orochimaru,'' Naruto stated, impatience rolling over his tone. More to that, the snake was also an evil incarnate that shouldn't be allowed to live in this world. Orochimaru was a malicious and insane snake that needed to be chopped off from the tree of life.

There were some things that he was willing to dirty himself in dealing with. While he was prepared to arrest evil people and put them into prison for several years, Orochimaru wasn't the one to be taken to prison. His sins were far too great and living him in prison was only giving him more time to plot. Perhaps his associates could be given prison time, but the snake was headed for execution. The trial has already been set, and judgment has already been delivered.

''My, my, Naruto-kun, when did you become so impatient?'' Orochimaru asked, still using the same playful tone, but Naruto merely gave the snake a blank look. ''You're no longer fun. Perhaps, Itachi would've been a lot pleased at this. My meetings with him were always interesting. A pity he's dead,'' the snake paused for a moment to read Naruto's expression, but he got nothing but a blank stare. ''Aren't you a little sad about it? Especially since he was killed by your former friend...''

''Is that all?''

Orochimaru frowned, albeit inwardly. He hadn't thought Naruto could wear a steel cold mask like that. The damn mask hadn't even slipped or twitched, even for a second. ''Well, someone has grown,'' he said, licking his lips. ''Aren't you worried that Sasuke will become stronger because of this? I mean if Itachi told him the truth, he most likely awakened the Mangekyou after killing Itachi, or he will be told about it by Juubi. The regret and grief he will feel for killing his brother will cause the Mangekyou to awaken. Either way, he awakens the eyes...''

Naruto shook his head silently. ''I'm not worried about Sasuke - he's far from what worries me. Besides, even if he awakens the Mangekyo, he will most likely turn blind quickly because of the overuse of the Doujutsu,'' there was no doubt that the Uchiha was going to be reckless with the new power and he wouldn't waste any time in waving it around for all to see.

What didn't worry him was that even if Sasuke tried to use Itachi's eyes, he would find it to be an impossible task since Itachi died with his eyes. It wasn't known to either Uchiha, but Naruto had an idea that Itachi knew he'd done something to his eyes to make sure that they never fall into the wrong hands, even if the hands were his own brother. Whether Itachi liked it or not, Sasuke would be a threat if he was allowed to gain His eyes. Since he'd failed in trying to convince the older Uchiha from fighting Sasuke, he'd taken an alternative path.

''Ho?'' Orochimaru seemed amused more than anything, but the fact that Naruto gave him no emotion for him to read frustrated him. ''I wonder if Juubi will allow that to happen... He knows all I know about the Sharingan, which is much more than Sasuke and he is far more intelligent to allow that power to go to waste...''

''The seconds are ticking, Orochimaru,'' he'd entertained the snake far enough, and he no longer wished to continue with that.

''Akatsuki's hideout,'' the snake shook its head as if to correct itself, ''Obito's old hideout...''

''What of it?'' Naruto gave away nothing for the snake to read. He'd been trained far too well to easily slip and give the snake something to use against him. No doubt if his mask slipped, the snake would only gain more confidence and continue to press on on whatever he was aiming for.

''After Obito died, I went there - Kabuto had already located it before the fake Madara was killed. But what I found was that it was empty; everything that used to be there had been cleaned, with no trace remaining, it seemed as if nothing ever existed there and now it has become nothing more than a cave...''

''...and you're telling me this because?''

Although he would never admit it to any soul, Orochimaru was having a difficult time and was biting his tongue to stop himself from cursing that stone-faced brat. He always enjoyed reading the emotions on his prey's expression, but since it all began, the blond wasn't giving away anything. This was just no doubt a student of Itachi. That man couldn't be read by anyone, and wore the mask Naruto was now wearing without failure.

''Don't you know anything about it?''

''No,'' Naruto lied with a straight face.

''Ho? i thought you did - I never get things wrong like this,'' Naruto didn't buy the act Orochimaru put in since it was pretty much obvious to him that the man knew what he was talking about but he was just not going to admit it. ''Do you know what Juubi is planning?''

''I see,'' Naruto nodded to himself, ''He must have come to you about it and you're coming to tell me what he is planning so that you can brochure a deal on the way forward. You have no interest in playing anyone's game and the only game you will participate in is a game you started, other than that, nothing is going to happen.''

''You catch on fast,'' Orochimaru said. ''So what do you say? Sasuke has teamed up with Juubi, why don't you team up with me? I'm sure you and I can make a good team...''

''I know Juubi went after the Three-tails recently and I know what he is planning. So Orochimaru, there is nothing you can tell me that I don't already know.'' Naruto started walking away, he stopped once he'd walked past the snake. ''I will not work with you and never will. What you must know is that your days parading that mask of yours are numbered. Very soon, I'll executive you on the law of the UN for your crimes against humanity.''

Orochimaru laughed sinisterly when the words were registered inside his head. ''You can't kill me Naruto-kun - no one can. I have become immortal now...''

Naruto only looked at the sannin at the corner of his eyes, ''Just because you now have the Sharingan? Laughable...'' he didn't sound amused, not even a little. Of course, Shi's intelligence was top notch. The man always kept him updated with whatever he could get his hands on. The fact that Orochimaru had a Sharingan was known to him, since he had stolen it from Danzo. He had raided Root HQ before Jiraiya went there to make use to the forces left behind without a master.

''The Sharingan isn't the only thing I have, Naruto-kun,'' Orochimaru said. ''I now have a perfect body that is able to hold my soul without restraining some of my powers. I can now use all my abilities...'' as if he wanted to show how powerful he'd become, Orochimaru blurred out of sight in pure speed, but he never reached Naruto because his movements were put into an embarrassing halt by an invisible wall.

The sannin stumbled back at the hard contact with the invisible wall. He glared at Naruto after regaining his balance; that was truly embarrassing to him.

''You're not the only one with special abilities, Orochimaru,'' Naruto said before blurring out of sight, leaving Orochimaru alone.

How did Naruto know he had the Sharingan? He hadn't revealed his eyes to the blond nor anyone who could have told him about the new development, then who could have done it?

**Konoha**

''Konoha Senpuu!'' Lee only heard those words before a foot crashed into his skull, coming out of nowhere, and sent him flying. The experienced Taijutsu user was quick to recover from the surprise attack and was surprised to see who'd attacked him.

''Naruto-kun..?'' He wasn't too sure; hence the name was put with a question mark. He wasn't expecting the blond to here of all places, not with the rumor that is crawling around Konoha about him.

''How are you doing, Lee,'' he turned to face Gai who was standing still behind him, ''Gai?'' he finished. Before he could even turn his head back to face Lee, the student on the Green Beast was already before him; Lee jumped on him and gave him a bone crushing hug. Naruto almost shivered when he felt Lee's tears wetting his crimson shirt from the back.

''It's good to see you, Naruto!'' the youth exclaimed, before letting him go. Lee grinned, flashing the blond a thumps up, ''it's good to see that your flames still burn brightly!'' he said referring to the surprise attack that sent him flying.

Naruto smiled, ''good to see you too, Lee,'' he said. ''But my youthful flames never burn brightly as yours,'' he added before taking a pause. ''I see that you haven't been slacking from your usual training.''

It was still early in the morning, and he knew well enough that these two always trained at this time of day whenever they were not outside the village on a mission. It was often that he trained with them to help improve his own taijutsu and keep his body in top condition and reflexes sharp. There was no better teacher in Taijutsu than the Taijutsu master, Maito Gai. Itachi was an excellent teacher, but he was no Maito Gai.

''I'll never catch up to you if I slack off from hard work,'' Lee's response was almost predictable. ''We haven't tested out flames of youth against each other in some time, what do you about a sparring session?'' Although the Chunin was asking, he was already on his Taijutsu stance, looking quite ready for a good battle.

Naruto disappointed the small green best by shaking his head, ''some other day,'' the blond said. ''I came here on some important business, so sparring isn't within the schedule. Since I knew you guys would be here, I thought it was best to see you first.''

He'd come here for a meeting with the head of the Hyuuga clan to talk about Hanabi. It was no problem getting into the village gates as he just had to produce the documents that showed he indeed had clan matters to deal with. Konoha's structure was made in such a way that even the Hokage had no power over clan activities. For today, he was a guest to the Hyuuga clan. If there was an impending issue between him and Konoha, they would have to set it aside today because of the immunity of being a guest to the Hyuuga gave him.

Of course, the meeting between him and the head of the Hyuuga clan was going to be kept a secret from the public eye to avoid a backlash from the villagers of this village. Since Naruto wasn't oblivious to their talk behind his back, he knew that if they know that he was here for the Hyuuga clan, they would start suspecting that he was conspiring something with the clan. However, they wouldn't do anything stupid since the Hyuuga was the most powerful clan in Konoha and their Byakugan greatly enhanced the village's power.

Regardless of how dense and stupid they were, this was something they didn't miss.

Hiashi had only allowed the meeting to go ahead because he knew he wasn't planning anything against Konoha. If that was the case, the man wouldn't have allowed him to come to his clan compound. Clan head were bound by responsibility to think of their clan first before the village. In everything that Hiashi did, he always brought Konoha second to his clan. It was the same for most leaders of clans because the clan was their immediate family and their position dictated that they do so.

''Oh,'' it seemed like all the happiness in Lee had been sucked dry when he gave his response. No doubt the moment he realized it was Naruto, his blood had already started rushing for a good battle with the blond, and he was being denied that opportunity.

The reaction from Lee did nothing but amuse Naruto. He could never really get used to such looks and each time he turned down the apprentice of Gai, he always gave the look and it always amused him. To Lee, being denied a chance to spar by someone he considered a worthy foe, was no different than being denied water to calm his thirst. Spars with Lee weren't so much as 'friendly' anyway - there was always damage and pain. Despite it being fun, the Chunin really took things to the extreme every now and then.

''Don't be so down, Lee,'' Naruto said, his back eyes watching Gai who was walking towards him. The man's heavy right hand slammed onto his right shoulder - if it wasn't for the fact that he was used to it and he packed more muscles than he let on, he would have winced upon contact.

''So what business do you have, Naruto-kun?'' Gai was unusually a bit serious in his question, despite the usual mask of happiness fully formed on his front.

''I want to take my students to Uzu so that I can train them,'' Naruto simply said. He wasn't going to say more than he'd said - his tone suggested that more than anything.

Gai nodded, but asked nothing further on the subject as he knew when to ask when not to. ''Well, it's good to see you, but you should come often to visit us. Lee really misses you and without his Eternal Rival close by, he can't have someone to test how far he's going with his training.''

''Well, I should I could, but my situation restricts me to do so. I will, however, come by when things are cleared - when I can that is,'' Naruto said, with a small smile. He took two steps towards Lee, and placed his right hand on the boys shoulder, ''keep strong, Lee.''

'It appears he truly isn't here to stay,' Gai thought watching Naruto and Lee talk. When the two were training together, they were almost like brothers. It was a pity that Naruto no longer stayed within the walls of Konoha. With Naruto close by, Lee always had someone other than him to pick him up in his quest to become strong. Still, his beloved student was still doing well on his own despite losing his friend and training partner.

''I guess, I should leave before Tsunade sends her Anbu after me,'' Naruto said, not particularly to anyone. ''It was nice seeing you guys,'' he said, before he could flash away, Lee asked a question that was worrying him.

''Shikamaru says you may never return to live in this village, is it true?'' Lee truly had troubles accepting this news. He really wished that Naruto could return to Konoha and for things to return to as they were. Though it would never return to the Genin days, it would perhaps return to those days when he had a training partner and a friend in the art of taijutsu.

Naruto smiled sadly, ''that is true, Lee,'' he said honestly. ''I have a 'few' responsibilities now, and a new home. Living in Konoha isn't an option. But that doesn't mean that I have become an enemy of Konoha - I am just following my dream, conviction and some parts of my heart.''

''Oh...''

Brightening his smile, Naruto spoke again before he flashed away. ''Brighten up Lee; I may have left Konoha, but you're still my friend, and I have not left to cause chaos, but I've left to see through to my dream. You can't use chakra, but you still have the dream to be the best. Many chakra users ridicule as being naive but you continue to move on towards your dream. The same can be said about me; I'm following my dream, but I am called a traitor by some people because of it, but I worry not because I know where I am going.

I am not lost, Lee. You're not lost. But our paths are taking different turns, but that doesn't mean we must be sad because we can no longer as each other as much as we used to. No, we must be happy because both of us are still trying to achieve our dreams. Lose your smile when I become evil, and I will lose mine when you give up on your dream.'' With that said, the blond was gone in a flash without waiting for Lee to offer his response.

Gai smiled brightly, 'wonderful words full of youthful passion!'

**Hyuuga Compound**

''It has been long, hasn't it, Hinata?'' Naruto asked, walking beside the beautiful Hyuuga, who was a classmate at the ninja academy, and a comrade while he was still a shinobi of Konoha.

Coming into the compound had to be discrete until he met up with Tsunade - it would cause troubles if he left without seeing the fifth Hokage and it wouldn't really do well to his own burdened heart. Tsunade would only become furious with him and it was a good chance to speak to her about other matters since Sasuke was no doubt going to come after Konoha in the near future.

He had been surprised when he saw that Hinata was the one to welcome into the compound; he had expected as such as she was a 'friend' and someone he was most familiar with other than Hanabi and Neji. It was nice to see her again, and he was glad that she was handling herself well beside him. She was never able to contain herself while he was near, but he was glad that she could control herself, well enough to talk to him without stuttering like a broken record.

Hinata smiled, ''it hasn't been that long,'' she said. Really, it hasn't been that long since they spoke. Days were just flowing a bit faster due to the things that were occurring. ''A lot has just been happening in between,'' she added as they turned into corner within the compound, while heading towards the clan head's residence.

''I guess so,'' Naruto in a thoughtful look. He'd done a lot of things since 'leaving' Konoha - so many things that one would do even in a year. ''How have things been around?''

''Normal around me, but nothing much has changed,'' Hinata said, before pausing. ''Father says you're very busy...''

''Well, you know me, I never settle down,'' Naruto responded calmly. ''Between rebuilding my ancestral home and running the UN, while trying to build relationships between nations, I don't get much time to relax.''

Well, if he divided much of his work to others, and have his clones do some work, he could even spend a full day swimming in the, while trying to catch fish. But having his clones do his work posed stress to his mind because all their memories would be deposited into his mind, giving him a lot of work to do in sorting them out. It was a lot better when the clones he'd summoned where doing the same task.

''You've gotten stronger,'' Naruto added, eying the Hyuuga at the corner of his right eye.

''Neji-nee helps me a lot with my training, and Kurenai-sensei always helps,'' Hinata responded, a bit happily that Naruto had acknowledged her without even seeing her fight. Well, he could've heard the rumors and her father praised her a bit these days.

Naruto walked a bit faster than the girl before standing in front of her, he poked her chest, towards her heart, before giving her a warm smile. Hinata almost fell down on her butt due to Naruto's actions. He'd touched her, unexpectedly and that place. Naruto only laughed when the girl struggled to cool down her steaming face. He returned to her left hand before speaking. ''I don't mean in terms of skills,'' he said. ''You've always been strong, Hinata. You merely lacked conviction and a strong heart. When I say you've gotten strong, I mean your heart has become strong.''

''T-thank you,'' a little bit of praise and she was already going to her old self.

Naruto merely smiled though, ''just stay strong in the as you are and you won't waver constantly as you used. A strong willed heart strengthens your attitude, mind and sharpens your skills. Hesitation brings the skills you have to nothing. Though you were skilled, because you hesitated, you were seen as nothing. But since you're able to talk to me like this, I'm glad that you've grown.''

Comfortable silence settled in as Hinata realized something almost made her heart falter; Naruto had laughed in front of her at her embarrassment. When was the last time she'd heard him laugh? When was the last time he smiled so warmly? Everything was different, but he was still Naruto.

''Are you going to stay till later?'' Hinata asked. She had her own agenda here, and it had taken all her will power to get the question off her chest given the thought behind the question.

Naruto guessed she had something, but he wasn't here for that, and besides, he had to travel to Kumogakure after leaving here. And since he wasn't going to teleport, it was best to leave as early as possible. ''No,'' he said. ''I have other businesses that I must deal with elsewhere.''

''Oh,'' Hinata mouthed, a bit down.

''Was there something you wanted?''

''N-no,'' the response so quickly, like she was denying something. Naruto looked amused by her response more than anything, but he didn't indulge his amusement any further. Regaining her composure, Hinata spoke, seeing his look. ''You look a lot happy than when were before,'' she said.

''I guess the environment I find myself in is conducive for my happiness, and the path I have chosen makes me happy. Besides, why would I be sad while walking beside you?'' A complete opposite of Anko and Mei, Naruto realized when Hinata's face changed color. ''Aren't you happy?''

''I am happy, i-it is just d-different without, Naruto-kun around.''

Naruto arched an eye brow at how she referred at him, but he said nothing about it. ''It is expected; there is no one like me after all,'' he said. ''Don't base your happiness on a single person, Hinata. Don't draw to draw your happiness off one person because one day, you'll be miserable when that person disappears. Instead, base your happiness on something like your work, and goals. Your dream is supposed to make you...'' Naruto trailed off when he found Hanabi dressed in formal attire, standing beside the entrance of a room he presumed his meeting was going to be held.

''Naruto-sensei,'' Hanabi bowed politely while greeting the blond and she prayed that Naruto doesn't ruffle her hair as it would only mess her up. She was relieved when he just smiled at her, adding with a small bow.

''Hello Hanabi,'' Naruto smiled warmly. ''I see you've been well,'' she didn't look any hurt or unhealthy judging by her physical state, and the report he received told him that she had been doing rather well. Every now and then he liked keeping an eye on his students just to see if they weren't slacking off the training regime he'd given them since he could no longer train them personally because of the current unresolved situation. He didn't want to neglect them, hence the training regime he'd left behind for them to use.

''I have,'' Hanabi said, welcoming the blond inside the room. ''Konohamaru misses you - he doesn't stop saying your name when we train together,'' wearing an amused mask, Hanabi added, ''he was even thinking of running after you. The Hokage threatened him to keep him down.''

No doubt the incident had been amusing for the stoic Hyuuga to look like that. If anything, Naruto assumed Konohamaru had budged into Tsunade's office and demanded that he be allowed to leave Konoha in favor of following him to Uzushigakure. The Godaime Hokage would've no doubt refuted the demand but that wouldn't have stopped the boy from trying to leave. Tsunade must have almost likely come close to snapping his legs just so he couldn't run away.

''I have sent a clone to see him,'' Naruto said. ''I just hope he doesn't pounce on the clone to make the clone puff out of existence. Well, if that happens, it will be a disappointment...'' he said in thought.

Once he entered the room, he noticed that Hinata and Hanabi followed him inside, and Hiashi was sited alone on a futon. He assumed that the two clan head's daughters were going to be involved in these talks. He had no problems with that and it actually pleased him to see that Hinata was being acknowledged by her father enough to allow her to stand in while they talk along with Hanabi - it was a nice change and it did well for the Hyuuga's confidence.

Hanabi nodded, but offered no verbal response. She went on to sit on her father's right side while Hinata sat on the left side. Hiashi motioned for Naruto to sit before they exchanged pleasantries.

''Hanabi and Hinata will be joining us. They won't be involved in any decision, I merely wish for them to see how such talks are handled - I hope that will not be a problem to you,'' Hiashi said, keeping that composed look most Hyuuga's seemed to possess.

Naruto merely smiled and waved his right hand dismissively, ''I see no problem,'' he tilted his head a little as he added. ''The fact that Hinata is allowed to enter such thoughts simply means that you've acknowledged her. I have to say, I am quite pleased with that.''

''Hinata has grown over the past years, and I have seen how useful she has become to the Hyuuga clan,'' Hiashi gave his response while Hinata smiled a bit at her father's words, even though he had said it like it wasn't much of a big deal and that he wasn't happy that she had grown.

Naruto was silent for a few moments before speaking, ''In the past, Hinata hesitated a lot. She couldn't even strike down Hanabi in a simple sparring session that guaranteed no death. That simply meant she couldn't strike even an enemy. Ultimately, she wasn't fit to protect the Hyuuga clan. No, with her hesitation to strike, she couldn't protect anything. Bearing the responsibility of a leader means being able to stand firm and strike down anything that poses threat to what you must protect.

Hinata couldn't do any of that. It wasn't to say she wasn't skilled, it wasn't that she couldn't defeat her younger sister - it only meant that Hanabi understood what had to be done in order to protect the clan, hence she excelled where elder sister failed.

You gave her a cold shoulder thinking that she would harden her heart in the experience, but that didn't work. It wasn't that you didn't care about her wellbeing - you just wanted her to grow so that she could do what was expected of her,'' Naruto paused, and looked at Hinata. ''Your father was loving and kind to you before he started training you, wasn't he?''

Memories from her childhood, Hinata had really forgotten many of those because of the cold shoulder her father gave her. Even when she was failing, he'd always had her do it again, and again. It wasn't because he was punishing her; it was because he wanted her to succeed. But that isn't to say discarding her was the greatest choice a father could do. No, it was the worst possible choice that could have driven her away from the clan.

Nodding, Hinata spoke, ''yes, he was,'' she said.

''I assumed as much,'' Naruto responded, taking his eyes off the elder sibling of the children of Hiashi. No matter how much a father acted, it was not possible for him to completely discard his own child like he didn't care. Every father cared. There were just limits and fathers were willing to harden their hearts and act perfectly like they don't care. He wasn't going to comment that Hiashi had stopped being a father to Hinata - it wasn't his place to say so.

''You understand this lot better than I would have thought. No, I didn't even think you would understand,'' he showed no surprise on his face despite being surprised at the fact that Naruto could understand his reasons as a leader.

Naruto smiled - it was a bitter smile. None of the Hyuuga's needed x-ray goggles to see that. ''My father abandoned his responsibility as a father the day I was born in favor of fulfilling his responsibility as a leader. He left me alone with a mountain sized Bijuu inside my gut. I lived like an orphan, parentless, and like a rotten piece of meat that constantly strolled around the streets of this village, much to the dismay of the villagers. He must have known that tomorrow wouldn't many pleasant things for me, but yet he died with a smile.

Many leaders aren't good fathers because of their responsibilities. They will always sacrifice something to protect what they lead,'' the bitterness in his tone didn't transcend into his expression - it was perfectly neutral. ''Besides, I am leader myself - I should understand this better.''

Hiashi was surprised that Naruto would so willingly say something like that to them. Well, when he thought of it, it wasn't anything serious. He was a clan head, and a member of Konoha's council - he already knew what the blond had said. Hinata was his former classmate and she was a friend, Hanabi was his student and both knew that he was a Jinchuriki and the child of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. It wasn't something any of them didn't already know.

Nodding to himself, Hiashi spoke, ''how is the rebuilding going?'' he asked. Naruto had said he was a leader, and aside from the UN, he was leading the rebuilding of the former Great village, Uzushigakure.

''Smoothly, and a lot faster than I had first thought. The exterior work should be done in the next 7 days and it may take four or less to do the interior work,'' Naruto responded calmly. It wasn't a secret to anyone that Uzu was being rebuild and as long as he wasn't telling any secret, Naruto had no problem telling someone like Hiashi how far was he come with the rebuilding.

''You work fast,'' Hiashi said. ''You must have hired an army of employees to rebuild the village...''

Naruto smiled, ''you'd be surprised if I told you there are only a handful of professional builders in the island,'' he said. ''With my clones, I learn quickly and I did build the buildings that stand now on my own. So with that experience, guidance from a professional builder and 3500 clones, rebuilding a village is quite easy if you have all needed materials.''

Hiashi blinked. 3500 clones? He shook his head. Even when he was just a kid, Naruto could create up to 2000 clones. It really shouldn't be a surprise that he could create 3500 laborers on his own. But that meant he burned much more chakra since he had to give them more chakra to last for hours. Just how much chakra could one human have?

Hiashi cleared his throat, ''can we begin?''

Naruto nodded, ''as you already know, the United Nations has a military force that is called the Police Force. We're currently busy recruiting those who are willing to be part of the Police Force from around allied nations. I'm sure Jiraiya has already given you a clear description of what the UN's Police Force will be doing, yes?'' Hiashi nodded. ''There is also an academy that I am building within Uzu. The academy will train future UN police force members.''

''What exactly will be taught in the academy?'' Hiashi asked. There would be no difference if they are teaching the same thing as they do in the academy here in Konoha. Unless they offered training that was different, then he would be interested in it.

''Politics, History - Elemental nations' history, and Law - the law of the UN, rules and its principles, and law in general. The physical part of the training will be all forms of shinobi arts, Kenjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and Medical Ninjutsu. Classes will be from morning till evening. Morning till noon will be all theory, and then in the afternoons, it will be physical work.

Hanabi is a well disciple child and she understands principle well enough. She is still innocent, and I would like to take her to Uzu until the training is done. I want her to head the UN's Police Force within the region of the Fire Country, Wind Country, and all lands towards the Mist. Of course, she has to grow up first.

Within the Police Force, she won't be forced to kill anyone, but only use force if necessary to subdue a suspect and bring her or him to the right place for judgment,'' Naruto said.

Hiashi was silent as he absorbed the words. This was a good thing for the clan. If the UN became stronger than what it was, and his daughter becomes a high ranking official in the organization, it would elevate the Hyuuga's status as she would be representing the clan. Hinata could lead the clan on this side. And there wasn't even a hidden agenda from Naruto.

This also gave his daughter a chance to escape the shinobi life, and live a somewhat less corrupting life. Hiashi looked at his daughter at the corner of his eyes; naturally, her expression gave him nothing. He looked back at Naruto. ''You've done remarkably well as Hanabi's sensei in a short time, but I must still wonder why. You're not asking anything other than permission to make my daughter a powerful shinobi.''

Naruto smiled, ''it sounds good to be true, huh?'' Normally, Hiashi would even have to give something in order to attain something like this, but he wasn't asking anything. ''But that is the truth and nothing else. You've trusted me with your daughter's care once, and I was faithful, I'm sure you can do it again.''

''The academy is in Uzu, and you're saying that classes will be from morning, how will that be when she is here?'' For now, Hiashi didn't comment on the faithful part.

''I will get good people to take care of all the students as they will be staying in Uzu within academy hostels. I will, however, return the students to their parents on weekends. Parents who wish can move to Uzu along with their children, and those without parents will get permanent residence within Uzu,'' Naruto explained lightly.

''Maintaining something like that will require a lot of funds, and considering that you're rebuilding, can you afford it?'' Could this be the catch? Would Naruto 'donation' from him?

Naruto nodded, ''yes, it will cost a lot,'' he admitted. ''However, since Uzu is close to the sea, and there various types of fishes that aren't found anywhere else, I have discussed trade agreements with a number of nations and a number of merchants - I will become a supplier of fresh fish from the sea. I've also dragged myself into the shipping business because of Uzu's location. My ships can move the Whirlpool country towards, the Wave, Water, and Lightning country. These are just some ways I've thought to help with cash injections.''

''That type of business also creates employment for residents of your village,'' Hiashi added. Naruto was taking advantage of the villages location, and with his teleportation jutsu, he could deliver the goods just hours after being caught, keeping true to his promise; fresh fish from the sea.

''Without employment, villagers won't be able to find money, and shop owners won't sell anything. The village also suffers, economically.'' Naruto said. ''Do not hurry to make a decision, but it would be good for my preparations if the response comes before November ends, as all building will be completed by then.''

Hiashi nodded without question. ''About the other matter?''

''I've analyzed the seals structure, and can remove it as well as create new safe and invisible seal,'' Naruto said before pausing. ''Forgive me if I may sound out of turn, but was the caged bird sea really created to keep the secrets of the Byakugan? I mean if so, shouldn't all members of the clan be caged with the seal? Even a member of the main family can be caught while on a mission, and since they don't have the seal, the Byakugan will be easily exploited.

''From my view, the Caged Bird Seal looks to be nothing less than a seal created to control the actions of the Branch family. The past generations must have known that the branch family would eventually rebel because of the sickening treatment from the main family and thought of a way to keep them in line.''

Hiashi stared at Naruto for a few tense moments, ''Hinata seems to think that as well,'' he said, seemingly worn out by the thought of this matter. ''But, you're indeed right. My experience with Neji has led me to see that the branch family loathes us, but I can't change that. However, I do hope these two can it.''

**Unknown location**

He should've been happy that he'd finally killed the brother of his, he should've been thrilled and feeling whole again that he'd avenged the Uchiha clan, but Sasuke still felt empty and the thirst for vengeance was still clutching his throat menacingly. He'd killed Itachi, but it appeared that his brother wasn't the one to satisfy his thirst for revenge. Konoha was the thing that he needed to destroy to get his revenge.

That godforsaken village forced his beloved brother to commit a massacre, they forced him to turn into a traitor and kill everyone in his clan, and they'd forced that unbearable burden on his brother and then discarded him away. Those foolish Konoha people talked crap about his brother even after he'd done everything in order to protect the damn village. Ungrateful fools.

He'd sworn he would destroy that village, and then restore his clan, but the first thing he had to do was to kill that brother-stealing blond. The thought of that bastard made Sasuke clench his hands hard enough to draw out blood. He couldn't forgive the fact that Naruto had been trained by his brother. His brother. Naruto also knew the truth, but he'd kept it from him, treating him like a foolish childish. He would deal with it, and show Naruto just who the child was.

''If you're not careful, that Uchiha hatred will overcome you before you can even master the full power of your eyes,'' Shinji said, as he appeared beside the Uchiha. While he wanted a puppet, it didn't help his cause if the puppet was a mass of hatred. It could help if he could direct where the hatred was channeled, but in the long run, it did no good for his plans. Sasuke would eventually start discarding his orders in favor of satisfying his thirst and hunger.

Sasuke didn't say anything until a few minutes had passed, ''what do you want?'' The Uchiha demanded as though this wasn't the same person who'd 'led' him to meeting his brother - Shinji was being treated as nothing more than a stranger.

When he discovered the truth, and killed his brother, everything became new, he was reborn, he had no friends, but only enemies. If he was going to start a new yet same path, he needed to know who his enemies were or else he would be destroying everything that comes down on his way.

''Is this how you greet me or even thank me after all that I've done for you?''

''You also knew the truth, but didn't tell me,'' Sasuke stated. He didn't need to question whether the man knew or not; the truth was obvious to him.

''Don't you think it was better if you'd known the truth from your brother?'' Shinji asked, stepping closer to Sasuke. He placed his right hand on the Uchiha's shoulder before speaking again. ''Come on, I want to show you something,'' they disappeared in a flash of black after those words left Shinji's mouth.

The next scene Sasuke saw was a village in production. He was standing on top of the largest building, which was like a castle and was surrounded by a large wall. Outside those walls, were hundreds of people putting in wooden buildings around the place. This was new, he'd never seen a place like this before. ''What is this place?''

''This is my empire,'' Shinji responded. ''I've been building it since I escaped from Orochimaru. My stupid actions outside here held another motive; draw the attention of the Elemental Nations towards my actions. While I was busy fooling around, these people were building this place.''

''Why did you bring me here?''

''You no longer have a home since you now plan to destroy Konoha, but you still want to restore your clan. I offer this place with no history of bloodshed or any treachery towards your clan to be the perfect place for you to restore your clan,'' Shinji said. ''In return, I will continue to help you out in destroying Naruto and Konoha.''

Sasuke was silent for a few moments before he finally responded, ''Let us go now - I want to test my new power on that idiot.''

''There is one condition, though,'' Shinji said.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, ''what?''

''If you want to go by your choice, you'll have to either defeat me or cut of my right hand. If you can't do that, then we will go when I say so. Does that sound fair enough to you?''

**Hokage Office**

Tsunade's finger tapped on her desk with impatience written all over; she was waiting for Naruto to finally show his smart-face before her. She hadn't bothered to have her Anbu drag him to her office as it wouldn't make things easy and for her Anbu to drag the blond, they would have to first catch him first. Knowing him, he wouldn't like to be caught to easily. She even imagined that he would leave without coming to her just because she failed to catch him. Even though she didn't send any word for him to come before, she didn't have a single shed of doubt in her heart that he would come.

Hiashi had only told her a few moments before the blond arrived that he was having a visitor. That sick bastard! He was using his clan privileges against her. No doubt they were talking about something that benefited the Hyuuga clan. If not, Hiashi would've never allowed for the talks to be held within his clan's compound, with Naruto of all people. He'd taken a risk by coming allowing the blond to come and Tsunade knew well enough that Hiashi wasn't stupid.

Still, for the past hours she's been waiting for Naruto to appear before her, but he wasn't coming. She found it even frustrating when one of her Anbu patrolling around the Hyuuga compound informed her that Naruto had the time spar with both daughters of Hiashi. He was doing that while she was waiting for him. And she knew every well that he was aware of her situation. He could've chosen to come here before playing love-dovey with the Hyuuga's. Who was his family? The Hyuuga or her? Unless he was planning to marry...

No way, Tsunade crushed that kind of thought with all internal strength she could muster. There wasn't even a trace of the thought ever existing within the prints of her memories.

''That brat; I bet he is even having tea with the Hyuuga now,'' Tsunade more or less grumbled, while she continued to tap on the desk. The more the minute counted, the harder she tapped, and the more impatient she became.

''He'll come, hime,'' Jiraiya said. There was no usually warmth or anything of that nature on his tone. He wasn't trying to calm her down or anything. It was more like he'd said those words out of habit than seeing the need to calm the Hokage before she could match over to the Hyuuga compound and demand audience with Naruto.

If Tsunade wasn't caught up in her own thoughts, she would have noticed Jiraiya's strange response. ''He is taking his sweet time and I can't push all my work just because of him,'' she said, her voice growing louder. But Jiraiya said nothing in response, making the Fifth turn towards him.

He'd only returned to the village three days, and what she noticed about him these past days was that he didn't stay away from the village for too long. If he was going to meet one of his contacts, he would go and do that before returning back quickly. Well, at times like these, it was best that all of Konoha's prized assets stayed within the village before anything major happens. With Naruto recruiting shinobi, she was careful not to have him prize away any of her top shinobi.

''What's wrong with you?'' The Senju demanded rather than asked, but it wasn't intentionally done - it was because of her current mood that those words came out strongly than intended.

''Nothing,'' Jiraiya responded with a wave of his hand. ''I've just been thinking a lot these past days,'' the Toad Sage said. Besides, he was still suffering from a massive heartache because of all the heavy drinking he did last night, and he'd been forced to wake up early because of his former teammate. With a headache, he didn't want to make much noise, lest he make it worse.

''Hello, Tsunade-ba-chan, Jiraiya,'' Naruto's voice stopped Tsunade from responding to Jiraiya. The Godaime narrowed her eyes at Naruto's cheery demeanor, but before she could even speak, it had already disappeared and replaced by a look she hated from him; impassiveness

''I was beginning to think you were no longer going to come,'' Tsunade said, much more contained, though her tone was still strong, as her stern gaze.

''Why would I commit such a crime of leaving without seeing you, Hokage-sama?'' Naruto asked, his head tilted a little. He seemed to shrug his shoulders before speaking again. ''I see you've been well, though. How have things been in Konoha? Any new challenges? Are the elders still giving you a hard time?''

''Cut the crap, Naruto,'' Tsunade said in a hardened tone, that didn't surprise Naruto the least. ''What is this about Uzu being rebuilt? Are you abandoning Konoha just like that? I'd thought you'd only left just to deal with that event you hosted. But now I hear you're going to rebuild Uzu? Have you freaking lost your mind?''

Naruto didn't even blink as his expression remained impassive, giving nothing for the remaining Senju to read. A few moments passed as a tense atmosphere settled in within the office before the blond responded in an even tone. ''I don't know about losing by mind, but it is what it is Tsunade. Uzu is being rebuild and soon shall be completed, and there is nothing you can do to change that. I'm not abandoning Konoha, and I'm not forsaking my home. This village never felt like my home to begin with anyway.''

Tsunade didn't even as much as flinch under his gaze and response - she kept her stare. ''You're just a brat Naruto. What do you know about leading a village? Have you even forgotten that Uzu was destroyed by villagers who were threatened by its power? Do you want the same thing to happen again?''

''I didn't come here for this kind of talk, Tsunade,'' Naruto started. ''However, get this over your head; I'm not going to return to this village, but that doesn't mean I've abandoned it. Uzu is my new home, and I have friends who I know will not stab me in the back or abandon me when I need them most.''

''Watch how you speak to me, Naruto,'' Tsunade growled from the lack of respect from Naruto. To her surprise, though she hid it well. Naruto apologized.

''I apologize for not addressing you properly, Hokage-sama. I am getting too familiar with you, it seems,'' he said calmly. ''Then, do you have anything, Jiraiya?'' Naruto's full attention was now turned to the Toad Sage, who hadn't said a word since he appeared in the office.

''Have you heard anything about, Sasuke?'' It was one matter that was disturbing him since the Uchiha seems to have disappeared off the grid. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find the raven head anywhere. It was almost like he had become a ghost and knowing how much of a danger Sasuke could pose, the Sannin was greatly worried.

''I guess it won't do any good if I withhold any information from you,'' Naruto sighed, keeping his impassive mask intact. ''Sasuke recently fought with Itachi and won. He has also somehow awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and is working with Juubi.''

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, ''what aren't you telling me, Naruto?'' Although Naruto's mask didn't slip, even for a second, Jiraiya knew that Naruto wasn't telling him everything he knew. The fact that he didn't go into detail about everything didn't mean that he wasn't aware of the details - it was most likely that he just didn't want to tell.

''Nothing you should concern yourself with,'' Naruto stated with a shrug. ''I must warn you,'' he added, ''Sasuke will most likely come after Konoha in the quest to destroy it. But before that, he will most likely come after me. Knowing him, things can happen in any order. Nevertheless, be wary because he will come.''

''And you know the reason why he will be coming, don't you?''

Naruto didn't bother to deny it; he simply nodded. ''Yes, but I can't tell you.'' He said.

Telling them the truth behind the Uchiha massacre would be a sin on his part. Itachi may be dead, but he'd promised he wouldn't tell anyone the secret, and he wasn't going to say anything, even if Tsunade promised to torture him. If they wanted the truth, they would have to get it from Sasuke who was the last Uchiha in this world. However, the Uchiha was most likely just going to go emo on everyone thinking that they knew the truth. The elders knew about it, so they would have a reason to fear if they were told.

''Why? Don't you care anymore about this village, Naruto?'' Tsunade asked, looking straight into his eyes. ''The information is vital for the safety of the village. Do you think your father would approve of you withholding information like that just because you have rebelled?''

''The emotional game will not work, Hokage-sama,'' Naruto said, never changing the pitch or the intensity of his tone. ''It has become quite annoying every time either of you say something like that.'' He sighed before adding. ''I've told you of the impending threat, and I would like to move on to another matter.''

''What?''

''I would like Shizune to teach medical Ninjutsu in Uzu, two hours a day, after that, she will be returned here to continue her work as your helper,'' Naruto stated, rather straightly.

Tsunade stared at him trying to see if he was being serious or not, when she saw no sign of amusement she spoke, ''that isn't a bargain. You can't expect me to give something coveted within Konoha for free.''

''It isn't for me, but for the UN. Work for the UN is supposed to be voluntary,'' Naruto said, but Tsunade didn't change. ''What do you want in return?''

''While I can spare Shizune for two hours a day, I don't think I can do that unless there is a good deal,'' medical Ninjutsu was something that Konoha ranked best in, and if she allowed Shizune to train other students from other nations, she would be giving them a chance to compete with them, and in their world, it was always better to hold the edge in something.

''Even after I told you that this is for the UN, you still say things like that... how shinobi minded of you,'' Tsunade took that as an insult, but Naruto just continued. ''I just want her to teach the fundamentals and the basics in application. She doesn't have to teach any secret jutsu you invented. So I will say it again, what is your price?''

''You're not going to buy any help from her when she does name here price,'' Jiraiya stated, glaring at Naruto. ''You're just testing just how much she is willing to give for the good of the world. You did say offering help to the UN was voluntary help, so I would assume, others who've offered help didn't demand anything as compensation for their efforts''

Naruto nodded, appreciating Jiraiya's fast grasping of the situation. ''We're trying to create an environment of good faith, and a where people can give without expecting anything in return. It will be difficult, but the fact that the shinobi that will be trained through the UN's academy won't be from a certain nation but from all nations makes it easy, as all efforts strengthen all nations. Besides, the students produced through the academy will mainly be working solely for the UN, not within villages from which they were born.''

Jiraiya was silent for a few moments, before he responded, ''that is understandable,'' he said. ''If it was up to me, I would allow Shizune to train your future students. But hime, it is you decision and I will support whatever choice you make.''

While Tsunade was busy with her thoughts, Naruto stood up. ''I came here because I thought it was a good opportunity for Konoha to do some good with its resources. However, if you can't, there are other people good enough with medical Ninjutsu to help. It doesn't take a great to create a great, but hard work, understanding and the determination to succeed.'' He paused before changing the subject. ''Soon enough, the UN will begin a raid through the hideouts Orochimaru has planted throughout the Elemental Nations. You expertise will be needed, Jiraiya.'' Smiling a bit, he said his farewell. ''Well, that is that. I will see you when I see you. Ja ne.'' He disappeared via gusts of winds. That was enough to notify Jiraiya that the blond hadn't teleported away from the village.

**Hokage Monument**

Seeing Ayame and her father had been such a blessing to him. No matter where he went, no matter what he did, he would never forget what those two gave to his life, what meaning they gave to the miserable life he so lived within the hateful walls of this miserable village; they gave him a chance to be part of their small family, no strings attached, no lies - just pure honest and the desire to help and the heart to care. With the Sandaime, there were many strings that were attached. While the old man truly did care, he didn't do enough and he was full of lies and so much scheming that bothered him.

The Icharaku meant more to him than anyone inside this village. They were his family, more than anyone. And Iruka was right up there. They may not have had a great start, but over time, things worked out perfectly. But the Icharaku did more. How many times did he go to eat there when he didn't have any money? How many times did he go there to seek comfort when the glares and sucked away all the happiness he had? How many times did he feel at home when they were laughing with him and encouraging him to do well at the academy?

Yes, Ayame was like a real sister and Teuchi was like his grandfather. Screw Jiraiya. The Sannin gave him nothing. Nothing at all. He only decided to budge into his life now that he had grown. Where was he when things were hard? Having fun with random women around the elemental nations while the cold stares of the walls within his cave for an apartment gave him no comfort. Life was miserable, yet he maintained a smile.

Given the recent developments and his current mindset, everything had become in 'past tense.' Although he still cared, things were different, and he couldn't run over to the Icharaku to get some ramen so he could lift his spirits up. Naruto looked at the bowl on his hands - it was still steaming. 'How many times did I feed on you to satisfy my hunger, how many times did you become a lifesaver when there was no money to buy other form of food, how many times did your godly taste lift up my spirit when I was low enough to feel the heat from the pits of hell?'

Naturally, the food gave no response.

Regardless, Naruto felt a little disappointed that his savior didn't have the voice to respond to him. He shook his head before such thoughts drove his mind to the borders of insanity. It wouldn't be beneficial to the UN and Uzu, as well as all his other allies if he started chasing after butterflies. His mind needed to remain sane as it could be and he had to stay strong for his dream to become a thing of tangibility.

Itachi; the Uchiha was now gone. Without being in Konoha, and being in Uzu, it meant that he was all alone, again. He refused to shed tears because Itachi died smiling, he died without regrets, but he no longer had a brother. His relationship with Gaara was different - it wasn't the same as the one he had with Itachi. There was no one like Itachi. His disappearance from this world meant that there was a hole now opened inside his heart, and knowing that it was because of a person who couldn't do any good other than serve his own selfless goals, It somewhat made him bitter that Itachi was willing to die for that godforsaken brother of his.

Whether Itachi would forgive him or not, he had insured that Sasuke doesn't get his hands on Itachi's eyes. Even if he does, he wouldn't be able to use them. Yes, he would be stuck with his original eyes and would certainly go blind someday. Most likely the blindness would kill him.

Sitting at this place, with a bowl of ramen, thinking of his miserable life, Naruto could only ask one thing; mother, father where are you to comfort your son? There was no answer. He knew before even asking that his parents were dead long ago. Before he was even a day old, his parents had already passed on to the other world. He could only carry on the heavy burden on his life, alone, with no one, since his 'brother' was now dead.

It was times like this that his masked slipped, and a more miserable expression settled on his face. But that did nothing than invite a menacing laughter from his tenant.

'And I was thinking that you'd become dead inside of you that you no longer cared enough to have that look on you,' Kurama stated. Of course he'd been watching his warden since it became obvious that Itachi had died, and he was more interested in seeing how he would react to it.

'Is there any particular reason you ignited this conversation?' Naruto asked, smoothly, but his tone displayed no emotion - a clear betrayal on the miserable look on his face.

'I was thinking that you might breakdown and become that pathetic human you once were. But that didn't happen,' there was disappointment more than anything within his tenant's voice. 'I must commend you though; you managed to wear your masks without showing a damn thing of your grief. Even when that wretched snake brought up the subject, you showed nothing.'

Whether that was amusing or not, Naruto didn't waste this thoughts on wondering why the Bijuu looked amused. 'I'm still waiting.'

The amused look disappeared in seconds, only to be replaced by a serious look on his face, 'I see you've been having thoughts about controlling my power.'

Naruto didn't deny it, 'I pale in comparison to the other Jinchuriki and for me to be level with them your power is needed. That isn't to say I can't defeat them without your power.'

Kurama narrowed his eyes a little, 'you mean because you have those eyes?'

Naruto didn't deny anything, 'I have what I need in my arsenal of cards, but what you must understand is that your power is necessary for some enemies.' While he was confident in his own abilities, Naruto knew that it wasn't a sin to make use of all the power that was available to him.

'I'm willing to give you my chakra when you need, but...'' the Bijuu trailed off when Naruto raised his right hand.

'The only way your chakra can leave you without your will, is if you're out of your cage, and giving it willingly. I can tweak the seal to ensure that you can't take over despite being released from the cage,' Naruto said. 'You know me well enough, and so I'll say; if you give me your chakra when needed, I will release you from the seal and ship you into one of the islands that surround the Water country. I will do that only after we've dealt with Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Juubi.'

Kurama stared at Naruto for a few moments. What he did know about his host was that he wasn't lying; he was dead serious. Still, 'freeing me will kill you.'

'My mother lived even after you were extracted from her by Obit, and I have her blood. Besides, I can support my life through the Gedo Mazo, tapping into its life-force during the extraction. That way, my own life won't be in danger,' Naruto turned away from the Bijuu. 'If you don't think that is good deal, tell me yours and we'll work something out. I must speak to someone outside.'

''I'm guessing since Tsunade was 'settled' when I went to her, you didn't talk to her about this,'' Naruto said to the person standing beside him.

''No,'' the person said, with a shrug. ''But I left a clone behind; it should explain everything after we've left. I know this is going to cause trouble for you though, but there is no other way. If I asked for her permission, she would refuse, and would be even willing to break my legs and seal off my chakra to keep me from leaving.''

''I can see her doing that,'' Naruto said in thought. ''I've already 'cleaned' everything in my father's house and concluded all my business here, I hope you've packed everything,'' the person nodded. ''Good,'' Naruto said, standing up, his left hand holding the bowl of ramen, and the right hand was placed on the man's shoulder before they disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Moments after the two left, there was a voice that shattered all windows within the Hokage tower. ''WHAAAAT!''

**End Chapter**

**Sorry for the long wait; I was on holiday over the past week, and only hurried to write 4 of my stories a few days ago. I updated three today, and I should update A God Amongst Men tomorrow****. **


	28. Chapter 28

Another day off from office work; that was Yugito's day so far. She wasn't doing anything, she didn't have a mission. Samui wasn't inside the village; that meant she was all alone. Bee was present, probably busy burning chakra with his brother, Ai, the Yondaime Raikage. She wasn't that much obsessed with training and becoming strong to be as obsessed as A was. The man had weights inside his office, and never took a day off in his training regimes. No wonder he had no personal life, aside from the one he had with his younger brother.

Yugito was walking alone, in the busy streets of the market district, strolling aimlessly. She had no purpose for leaving her apartment, no purpose for taking a walk. She just thought that perhaps there would be something for her to do outside. She could have joined Bee and Ai, but she didn't feel like it, she wanted to do something. For a woman, she wasn't as much invested in training as much as those two, and besides, she had her own needs. She had also done more than enough training; from as long as she could remember, she'd been forced to do hardcore training, but now she had a choice; if she didn't, she wouldn't.

Still, being a Jinchuriki meant that someone always had an eye on her, someone was always taking notes in everything that she did. It annoyed her to no end that some people just couldn't leave her; they thought her movements needed to be watched simply because she was a Jinchuriki, nothing less nothing more. The fact that she fought for the village was no matter, the fact that she was loyal to Kumo wasn't seen through those ignorant eyes. But it was alright.

Even though she was within busy streets, it was as if she was all alone, if she could close her ears and eyes, she could listen to the sound of her mind quite well, the chattering and murmurs beside her could die easily. At least no one was afraid or disgusted to walk in the same path as hers. Still, she was at ease with the walk.

The sight of bright blond hair caught her attention, making her eyes snap ahead; as much as she could tell, there was no one with as much bright hair as him. Smiling brightly, Yugito increased her pace as she pushed forward to see if it was him. Her feet carried her without troubles as she walked past a few people, while nothing peeled off her eyes from the blond hair she was seeing. It only took a few tireless minutes for her to finally reach the person.

''Naruto..?'' She wasn't exactly sure it was him. But she still couldn't hold back all her excitement at the thought it might be him. He'd truly done a number on her by disappearing for a long time, after he told her he would return soon. Not even a letter was sent to her, not even a hello came her way. The man could fricken teleport to anywhere he wanted!

Slowly, Naruto turned around to face the woman, a warmth smile planted across his face, ''Hello, Yugito,'' he said in a light tone. Truly, he was happy to see the blonde woman. Why wouldn't he? She was a fellow Jinchuriki, and the time he spent with her during his visit had been quite pleasant. Of course, he was a little different back then, but he was still Naruto.

Yugito smiled a little brightly, never minding the people beside her, ''it is you,'' she said, looking at straight at his gaze. ''What is the president of the most powerful organization doing in a place like this, all by himself?'' Naruto wasn't exactly just a normal person. Given his position, it was unnatural to see him at a place like this, all alone. And he wasn't exactly anonymous, many people knew of him already.

''The priest at the fire temple said if I took a stroll in this street, I would meet up with a beautiful woman. I came here to confirm if his prophetic powers were actually real,'' Naruto said, his smile kept in place. Yugito actually blinked before shaking her head.

''How I wish that were true,'' she mumbled before getting far closer to him. Naruto made no reaction to confirm whether he heard her or not. ''Come on, let's go somewhere... a little more private.'' Yugito took the blond by the hand and body flickered both to a secluded training ground.

''You know, Yugito,'' Naruto started looking around the training ground; it was the same ground she'd brought him to the last time he was in this village, and when was that? ''When you said somewhere a bit private, I thought you meant somewhere really really private.''

Yugito responded by punching him on the shoulder. ''What happened to you? No, never mind that, where have you been all these months? I have been waiting for you after you left like you going to return soon,'' she was standing just beside him, standing on the same rock he stood on.

''I have been really busy,'' Naruto said. ''But that is no excuse. Regardless, I am here today, and I just came to see you since it has been some time since we last spoke.''

''So I heard,'' Yugito said, in response to him being busy. ''I'm surprised that you'd take your time off from running the UN and building a village to come here. Building a village must really take a lot and you always have to be there to supervise things just to ensure that nothing goes wrong.''

Naruto took a sit on the rock before responding, ''Getting free time is rather difficult since I have to see that projects approved by the UN's committee are running and making progress, I also have to deal with Uzu, and things with Konoha - That really puts a lot on me, and robs me of any chance of any personal time.''

The UN's Executive committee had sat down along with other committees to discuss how things would be done over the next year, and the years to come. The meetings were held in Uzu over the past weeks, and that meant that he didn't have the chance to leave clones behind to do his dirty work for him. Using clones wasn't really advisable to him anymore as the work overload was putting a good strain on his mind. Shizune had suggested he stop using them, and take some time off to allow his mind to rest.

Aside from the meetings with the UN's committees, he had a great deal of time invested in the academy he'd started in Uzu. The academy building had been build and finished, thanks to the crazy work of his army of clones. By the time it was completed, he'd already found a number of students who would be taught in the academy and other people to help him in the matter as he couldn't do all things by himself.

More work meant he'd neglected Miyuki, which caused a strain on their relationship. She had no problems in discussing business with him, but when it came to other matters, it was a dead no. Since he wasn't really experienced with the matters of relationships, Naruto had just allowed the thing to run its cause hoping that she would eventually come around. He blamed Itachi for making him focus on work alone and neglect to honor his responsibilities to the Daimyo. A pity the Uchiha was dead.

''It seems you've been busy, as you should be,'' Yugito said. For a leader, he had to be busy to show that he was indeed working. If things were to go smoothly in this founding phases, he had to pull all stops to make sure everything worked perfectly. ''Enough about work, how have you been holding up?''

''Aside from the work overload, I've been well, really.'' A few spats with his tenant over some life-changing decisions were nothing to mention. The Kyuubi was only concerned about its well-being which extended to him, so it was only given the Bijuu be concerned when he did reckless things. ''How have you been?''

''Bored,'' that word summed it up. ''Aside from a few missions there and there, I don't have much to do. With the Akatsuki gone, there isn't much threatening for a Jinchuriki.''

''You should give me a hand then. I have plenty of work to spare in Uzu, and other lands,'' really, in the fire country, Ame, Wind, Kiri and Snow, there was work for him to be done. Even though he'd set up an organizational structure, there were still much work for him to do, and another problem was that he couldn't find the right people to fill in the posts needed to be filled on a day to day bases.

''You know, that would actually be nice. I can get to see you as much as I would like,'' Yugito said with a small smile.

''Yeh, it would be good having a fellow Jinchuriki and blond around to see matters of this world,'' Naruto added, ''The Yondaime Raikage has to agree upon that though. I don't think he will agree to send out one of his best shinobi out to work for someone else that easily.''

Yugito frowned, ''that is mostly likely going to be the case, but we won't know for sure until we try,'' she said, just to give herself some hope.

''Speak of the devil,'' Naruto said, and after a few seconds, the Raikage crashed into one of the rumbles around the place. Yes, he literally crashed down, yet looked so perfectly fine. Grand intense? Perhaps.

''I was told that a blond Uzumaki had sneaked into my village and I rushed to find him when I realized that he owed me a sparring match,'' A started, walking towards the two blonds. He did have his concerns on the security if Naruto was able to enter his village undetected and only be discovered because he hadn't bothered hiding himself.

''You sneaked in?'' Yugito asked, starring into the eyes of Naruto. The thought never came to her mind when she saw him in the streets. How could he, and why would he even go that far?

Naruto smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head, ''well, I wanted to see you first. If I had gone through the gates, the guards would have forced me to see The Raikage first, given all that has been happening around me.'' He was an important figure, not just a Jonin of Konoha. With his presence, the leader of a village had to be brought. They wouldn't allow him to stroll around when he was busy rebuilding a village, not when he could poach their shinobi and civilians.

Yugito shook her head, but she was actually smiling inwardly. ''Not to sound ungrateful for the thought, but that is just crazy. You could've been caught by Anbu and put in a cell for infiltrating the village. With everything going around you, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that you would be here for Intel.''

''I thought of it, but I was confident I wouldn't get caught. Besides, you wouldn't assume that of me, would you, Yugito?'' The blonde merely shook her head in response. She wouldn't have thought of it, but she would be suspicious given the way he is acting. It was totally different from the way he was when he came here back then: A mask maybe?

''Not that I'm not happy that you'd do that just to see 'my' Yugito,'' A said emphasizing the word. ''I would've liked it if you came through proper channels. But aside from that, this has given me a chance to review my security.''

Naruto nodded, ''I can tell you how I was able to enter the village and how to prevent it from happening again,'' the blond said, a bit serious. Of course this raised brows from the two with him.

''Doing that would give you an inner knowledge on how we do things here,'' A stated, no accusation being thrown - He was just stating a fact. ''You could possibly use that to your advantage.''

''Yes,'' Naruto didn't deny it. ''But, you've dealt with my father, and I'm not so different from him, in the heart I mean. The difference is that I'm not willing to wear my heart on my sleeves after everything I experienced.''

A was silent for a few moments. He sighed and looked firmly at Naruto. ''How about it then? I don't have all day. Why don't we get this over with quickly so you can tell me about this UN.'' Though, he would only be interested if the blond proves himself to be a worthy opponent.

Naruto looked at Yugito, ''I'll take you out on a date later on,'' he said, smiling before looking at A again. ''I did promise to fight you once I returned again, and see who is faster. Officially, you hold the record for being the fastest man in the Elemental nations. I cannot speak of the Hiraishin because it was originally crafted by the Nidaime Hokage.''

''Show me then, if you can hold your own like your father!''

Naruto took off his robes and handed them to Yugito before flashing to a clear ground. Both A and Yugito noticed a change in him; there happy look he had on him had disappeared, replaced by a look of indifference. Another mask, Yugito thought. The look was just like when he first came here, and when he spoke, there was just nothing in his voice, just complete impassiveness.

''I can do better than the Yondaime Hokage, Raikage-sama,'' Naruto said, taking a stance. ''Come, and I will show you what I mean by that.''

A couldn't deny it - his own eyes and senses clearly told him the truth. Naruto was indeed a completely different person when he faced in a battle, even though this is just a sparring match. Though, he wasn't going to take things lightly. He had a reputation to uphold and if he wanted to successfully test Naruto's strength, he would have to be serious. But still, the look on the blonds' face clearly told him he wasn't going to fool around either. Yugito had also noticed the change in his expression, he realized.

Swallowing, A took his own stance, prepared himself for a battle, which would undoubtfully be decided by speed. They wanted to see who was the fasted between them after all. He didn't start by activating his lightning cloak, not without studying the movements of his opponent. Even though Naruto was completely unreadable, he would have to move soon, and there would be a pattern in which he follows, of which he would take advantage off.

Being invited to come, A bust towards Naruto in the fastest speed he could manage without his cloak. The speed was no less than high-Jonin, and he was quick to reach the waiting blond, who didn't move a muscle until the last moment. A's upper body was leaned forward a bit, in the same position he took after taking off, his right punch cut through air, rushing towards the face of his opponent. Naruto avoided the punch by jumping back a little. Once his feet landed on the ground firmly, he again, closed the distance between him and A, right foot raised high for a high kick.

The Yondaime Raikage simply caught the kick with his left hand, he did so quite easily. He proceeded to pull Naruto towards him by his foot, and aimed a right punch at the blond's chest. Naruto crossed both his hands in front of his chest to create a defense so that A didn't punch his chest as he was positive the punch would be heavy enough to put him through pain. The punch connected with both his hands, without breaking through the defense.

A put Naruto off balance by pushing the right foot, which was still above ground, towards his left, making the blond twist a bit. He didn't waste a second before twisting anti-clockwise, returning with a high kick that connected with the off-balance Naruto's temple. The kick had enough force in it to propel the blond into the air.

He was quick to recover, though. A few flips in the air, and he was down on the ground on both his feet. A's heavy left foot crashed down just in front of him without a moment of notice. With so much energy stored up in the left leg for proper balance, the Yondaime Raikage swung his right foot straight at Naruto on the waist level, but the blond reacted quickly by swiftly lunging down. Naruto felt a considerable amount of wind blew by him as A's kick missed him. The kick had been thrown like a missile, like the man wanted to break him with just a single hit.

Never giving the air much thought, Naruto used his current position to great effect. The Yondaime Raikage only had on foot on the ground, and since he had lunged down, both his hands were close to it. He grabbed the left foot with as much force as he could and pulled it up, throwing the Raikage off-balance as his right foot was still above ground. The pull Naruto did was just like a leg-sweep and caused the Raikage to bend back as he would inevitably crash down on his back if Naruto doesn't attack.

The leader of Uzu didn't let up because he immediately got into position and reinforced his right foot with chakra before kicking A on his back. The contact with the man's back created a sound that made Yugito wince from where she stood watching the battle. It really had to have hurt. But A showed no signs of being in pain. What didn't allow the Raikage to got into the air was that when Naruto kicked him, he had his right hand held up, ready to catch him. The hand caught the man's foot before slamming him down the ground with so much force that his body got buried down the ground.

As Naruto leaned downwards to grab the foot he'd let go, A's foot suddenly sprung out from the ground catching Naruto on the face, making him move back a little. What followed then was a punch he didn't see straight on the gut. The punch didn't make a sound, nor did it move him, but it turned his intestines upside down, burning him with enough pain to make him freeze for a moment, and a moment was all the Raikage needed to make his move: he followed his assault by punching Naruto straight on his chest before delivering a spinning kick that landed on his forehead, sending him airborne.

''I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a Taijutsu expert like yourself. With your experience, landing a meaningful hit would...'' the blond trailed off when A's lightning cloak bust into life, and without even a warning, the Raikage's form materialized behind him. Even though he was quick to twist around, he was only met with a brutal kick that connected with his face. This time, he was sent sailing like a bullet, into the piles of rocks that surrounded the clear ground.

After hitting a few rocks, Naruto finally hit the last one he wasn't able to break as the momentum had worn off. He closed his left eye, watching the Raikage impassively. ''No mercy, I see. Even if this is just a sparring match,'' he said standing up. He held out a single hand seal as winds began to gather around him. ''Even I can play that game, but I won't play fair.''

After those words left his mouth, he disappeared in a twisting motion. The movement had been so fast that Yugito had to narrow her eyes to get a look at things better. If A had thought that Naruto would appear somewhere close to him, he was wrong, the blond appeared a distance away from him. He also noted that Naruto's eyes had gained a much more glowing glint, more ocean blue eyes - That made him assume that he had activated his own armor.

A blurred out of slight in a blistering lunge straight at Naruto. No more than a second later, he was right in front of the blond, both feet putting an amount of pressure on the ground bellow him. In a quick bust of movement and the Raikage twisted around, with enough speed that Naruto felt the wind moving with him. A returned with a high right footed kick that was aimed at Naruto's temple. Naruto held out his left hand, re-enforced with wind, and blocked the kick. That proved to do nothing, as he was still sent flying by the power of the kick, but it did no harm because of his armor.

As soon as Naruto hit the ground, A came in flying towards him with a dropkick. The blond jumped backwards slightly to avoid the dangerous move. A demolished the ground Naruto once stood, lifting up some debris. But the Raikage was again fast to react to his miss. Using his feet to force enough power, he jumped slightly at Naruto, catching the left foot of the blond. He then proceeded to smash the blond down the ground with as much force as he could.

A jumped into the air, attempting another drop kick on the blond who still laid on the ground. Naruto responded by flicked both his index fingers, straight at A, releasing wind bullets. The bullets hit the Raikage with a bang; one hit him straight on his forehead, and another hit under his right foot. The force of the bullets repelled the Raikage away from Naruto, giving him enough time to recover and prepare his next move.

By the time A was on the ground, Naruto was kneeling. ''Hmm?'' the Raikage felt something bellow him and quickly sped off when an explosion rocked through the ground bellow him. He was able to escape unscathed. Not giving Naruto a chance to attack, A quickly flashed behind Naruto.

He was in for a surprise when he found Naruto's right palm facing him, while the blond still remained looking the other away. ''Go away,'' Naruto muttered. It wasn't the name of the jutsu, just something he felt like saying. He had merely released a quick bust of wind that hit the Raikage's entire body, forcing him backwards.

''I thought this was going to be a battle of speed and Taijutsu.'' A said.

''You're not exactly using pure Taijutsu yourself,'' Naruto responded with a shrug of his shoulder.

''Fair enough,'' A said. He could guess that the blond wasn't using any other technique because he knew that he would have to be fast as him to catch him. For a lightning user, the current element Naruto was using was the best. And as it appeared, the blond had good mastery over it.

Naruto stretched out his right hand, ''Wind Cutter!'' After those words left his lips, he twisted clockwise in a sudden and fast movement that would have caught any other opponent by surprise. Although A couldn't see the jutsu, he could see its effects; it affected a wide range because of the spin Naruto had done, and seemed fast. On instinct, the Raikage jumped into the air to avoid any surprise.

His eyes quickly snapped up when Naruto suddenly flashed just above him. He should've have predicted it; the move was almost predictable. Both Naruto's hands slammed onto his head, with so much force that the Raikage was sent crashing down the ground into a loud boom.

''Wind Hammer,'' Naruto added a follow up to the previous attack. The hammer crushed down on the downed Raikage. This caused another boom, propelling A further down the ground.

Knowing the Raikage was still kicking effectively, Naruto rushed down where the Raikage laid. He was surprised when the Raikage suddenly bust forth from the ground, meeting him halfway. It was only the fact that he had fought a lot with Itachi and learned to predict moves that he was able to narrowingly dodge a bullet of a punch from the Raikage. His right hand had formed a small Rasengan purely on instinct. As A's right fist passed through his felt cheek, hitting him with some lightning currents, Naruto crashed his Rasengan on the Raikage's gut, with gravity on his side, since he was moving downwards, the Raikage was sent crashing back into the hole he had left in a haste.

Before he even landed on the ground, Naruto had already thrown three kunais with explosive tags right beside the crater. He didn't wait for anything before allowing them to go boom, in a beautiful work of fireworks that made rise to red flames.

A shot out of the flames with nothing but small bruises. Once he recovered his breath, he rushed at Naruto before jumping up. He attempted a high flying kick, which Naruto dodged by jumping away from its path. The Raikage crashed into the ground before flashing towards Naruto again. He appeared a Bit high, right foot raised high, and attempted a backheel. Naruto blocked it effectively, before flashing away from the man.

Once he landed on the ground, A was at him again: the left foot was swung at his head, this time, Naruto caught the foot with both his hands and didn't let go. A attempted twisting, but Naruto allowed the man to twist without allowing him to escape. After a few seconds, he pushed the foot away, putting the man off balance. What surprised A was when he could no longer move his left foot. It felt like it was glued to the ground.

''What the...?!''

''Don't worry,'' Naruto started, ''because of that lightning around you, the seal won't be able to last long, but a few seconds is all I need,'' by the time he finished speaking, A saw wind rotating around Naruto's fist like a driller. At that velocity, it was bound to bypass his cloak.

Naruto let loose of the unforgiving ''Wind Punch,'' straight into A's gut. The impact of the punch with his gut had created a shockwave that demolished the ground under him, but miraculously, only moved him a little. The next punch didn't produce a miracle, it pummeled his chest without mercy, shooting him backwards. Naruto wasn't done, he appeared above him, left foot covered in the same jutsu as his right hand. A was a brave man, but he closed his eyes when the kick crashed into his chest.

A bullet crashed down the ground a loud boom, lifting amounts of debris. It didn't take a minute for A to return to his feet. ''Bastard,'' he growled.

''I told you I wouldn't play fair,'' Naruto shrugged off his shoulders. ''Besides, in terms of physical prowess, you're superior to me. I can't win a battle of power with you, and you're a match for me in terms of stamina. Restricting your movements is a way to level the ground.'' Though, using wind armor supplemented his strength. However, at this level, it wasn't enough.

''Tsk,'' A growled, before snapping his snack, and stretching a few muscles. ''Your little trick wore off in a second, after the first punch. So,'' he dashed towards the blond.

Naruto dodged a punch from A by crouching down the ground. Remembering what the blond did last time, A jumped up to avoid being caught by the blond on either of his feet. While the Raikage was still above ground, he decided to attack again, moving for a chop while the blond was still crouched down. Naruto responded by raising both his hands up, to avoid being hit by a technique that seemed powerful, if the speed of the Raikage was an indication.

When A's right chop connected with Naruto's hands, it caused the blond to bend further, and forced both his feet to dig deep into the ground. Naruto realized that even if it wasn't a punch, the attack still carried much weight. If that had hit him, it would have left him nursing his wounds. As he tried moving his hands, he realized that he may have blocked the attack, but it did a number on his body. His inability to move for a moment was enough for A to touch down the ground, before kicking him straight on the face, sending him airborne.

The Raikage didn't allow him to hit the ground as he appeared under him before both his hands grabbed him just above his waist. A proceeded to slam him down the ground, head first. The amount of force by the attack resulted in his head digging deep into the ground while his feet remained up. A then took Naruto's foot, pulling him out of the hole; he twisted around for a few moments before lunging the blond towards the direction Yugito stood.

The Jinchuriki was even tempted to catch her fellow blond, but refrained from doing so. By now, some Anbu were watching the battle, while some few High Ranked shinobi were also observing from far. The best choice was just to stand still and watch everything.

Naruto surprised Yugito by doing several flips in midair before landing on a rock on both his feet. His landing was graceful like he hadn't been just lunged into the air by A. She was surprised further when he did his twisting thing to disappear; the rock he was standing on was completely shredded into small pieces.

A met Naruto half way and both their punches connected between them, causing the ground to demolish under them under the weight of both punches. When Naruto was certain that he was going to lose the battle, he raised his left hand, flicking the index finger, he shot an invisible wind bullet that hit A straight on the forehead, making him stumble backwards a little. Naruto took advantage of the situation, by closing the distance between him and the Raikage. The moment his right palm landed on A's chest, the Raikage threw in a heavy punch, that would have knocked him out, but Naruto raised a wind shield to block it.

''Shit,'' A cursed when a mark started to appear on his chest. The only reason Naruto was able to penetrate through his lightning was because wind was stronger when facing with lightning. What made it worse was that Naruto's control over the element was really, really good, if he were to be honest with himself.

Naruto didn't allow his hand to leave A's chest because he knew the moment he cut the flow of chakra with the cursed seal, the lightning coursing through Ai would burn it out. A clone puffed into existence behind the blond and went behind the Raikage. It touched the man before Naruto spoke, creating some distance between them. ''I don't think that I will be able to use the same seal against you twice, so I have to use this opportunity wisely.'' He held out his right hand, and his blade appeared in a puff of smoke.

''This is a different seal,'' A corrected, even though Naruto was the one applying the seals. By the effects of both seals, he could tell they were different. The first one increased the weight on his foot by a large amount, and this one restrained all his movements, even his lightning cloak wasn't sparkling as it should.

Naruto nodded. ''The same seal cannot work twice because of that lightning,'' he stated. ''Now then...''

But before he could even move to cut the Raikage, lightning bust out from the man, even managing to dispel his clone. Before Naruto even knew what was happening, A had appeared in front of him. A hard punch that made him spit out blood crushed into his chest without any restrains. His chest felt like it had been hit by a sledge hammer, and if it wasn't for his wind cloak, it would have broken his ribs. A followed these by a knee to the gut, making Naruto bend forward a bit.

The Raikage wasn't showing any mercy, he grabbed Naruto by his face, lifting him above ground, before brutally slamming him down the ground, causing a crater where the blond crashed. A followed this by attempting to stomp on the blond with his right foot. Naruto countered this by raising his left hand, forming a wind barrier above him, while his right was outstretched wide. A's foot only managed to force Naruto further into the ground.

Showing no concern, the Raikage wanted to break through the barrier with a quick punch, but an invisible force hit him on the face, making him stumble back a little. This gave Naruto enough time to escape the sight of them. The blond winced, wiping the blond off his lips. 'if I get hit like that again, I'm not gone be good,' he thought.

The blond held both his hands together before going through hand seals. Once done, he tilted his head a little to the side as gusts of winds began to pick up around him. This was the true might of his wind cloak. But because of the low levels of wind around here, it forced him to use his own chakra to generate wind, and that consumed a lot of chakra as well as stamina. While he could battle with A with speed at this level: he'd tested the full speed of the wind cloak to be slightly faster than the Hiraishin. However, when used in Sage Mode, it was another story: he was a destructive force of nature in that state.

The wind armor could protect him effectively from A's attacks. But he still needed something to fight off against the man's physical power, which increased with the use of his lightning cloak. he wasn't sure that the attacking power his wind cloak gave him would be enough, but this was a good testing ground.

His clone was done with gathering natural energy but since it was limited, he had to be decisive on the moment he wishes to use it. The good thing was that using natural energy replenishes his spent up chakra.

''This will be over soon,'' A stated, walking slowly towards Naruto. He then completely vanished out of sight. ''Lariat!'' Although the technique had the potential of killing the blond, A had the confidence in the fact that Naruto was a Jinchuriki, so he would be able to survive. He was greatly surprised though, when Naruto escaped from his technique with barely a wound. No, shocked was the right word.

''Shocking isn't it?'' Naruto's expression was still impassive as he rhetorically questioned. ''I will explain what happened to you: my armor may be able to repel your attacks, but the more it takes a hit, there more it weakens. Because I don't want it to weaken, I avoid getting hit directly. Yes, you did hit me just now, my control over wind isn't just good, it is perfect. Wind plays in important role on how fast you travel. A larger object meets more wind resistance meaning it can't travel fast. Even though you're fast, and simply body flicker close to me, there s something within a close proximity.

The wind around me in this distance is much stronger, and just like when you drop something into a bucket of water, the top water reflects. The same is for me, when you reach this special distance; my senses are alert while your speed is decreased. Naturally, you can't feel it because of your speed. But, when looking at things in slow-motion, you will be able to notice it. In other words, time slows down enough for me to react, without you realizing it.'' Naruto paused for a moment before asking. ''Would you like to test this theory?''

A's response was jumping into the air, his descend was down at Naruto, with his right punch positioned for a hard punch. He was moving fast enough to actually feel the wind hitting his face. His eyes looked carefully at Naruto who was just standing still, looking up at him. His fist reached striking distance with the blonds' temple, but in a quick, fluid movement, the blond moved to the right a little, making his punch miss, and it went straight to the ground; it had missed by mere inches.

While A's punch was still on the ground, Naruto twisted around clockwise. His back heel crashed into A's face, sending the Raikage airborne. But the man was quick to recover as he did several flips, and landed on the ground before taking off like a bullet. He closed the distance with the blond, appearing in front of him. He went for a super punch, the knockout punch. But Naruto tilted his head in the last moments, watching it pass on the left side of his head.

''Hmmm?'' A looked down. Again, Naruto smashed a Rasengan into his gut. It wasn't a big one, but a small one. Probably afraid to do more harm to him. A released a snort at the thought as he was sent backwards by the force of the Rasengan. Upon his recovery, A landed on the ground, and watched the blond carefully.

''You're able to dodge my attacks, but not because you're faster than me. You're only able to slow me down,'' A stated. Naruto had proved to be faster than him, he'd only proved that he could slow him down, and be able to dodge his attacks, and not just that, but be able to counter attack. ''Considering that you're not making any big moves, I can assume that with that special zone in place, you can't really attack.''

Naruto nodded. ''It is good for defense and counter attacking, which is why I would never use it against an opponent slower than me. However, my speed is quite something...'' he didn't finish his words because he suddenly did the twisted, A only reacted on instinct when Naruto appeared in front of him: his right hand made like a claw, moving downwards for a slash across his chest, A managed to lean back to avoid it.

Naruto's right hand crashed into the ground, while his right foot was moved quickly for a high kick straight at A. The Raikage blocked it by folding both his hands across his chest to avoid being hit. The kick only managed to push him back a little. With his hand still on the ground, Naruto did what he had wanted to do, ''Prison of the wind God,'' he muttered, before standing up quickly while A was still recovering. ''Activate,'' he snapped his fingers before landing on the ground.

''See, I can move that fast,'' the blond stated.

''That is nothing,'' but before he could move, he noticed something which made him stretch out his right hand to inspect. There was an invisible wall, and it was all around him, covering all sides. ''What is this?''

''My little cell,'' Naruto responded casually. ''In the next few minutes, you will run out of oxygen as there is none in there, and your lightning cloak will die out.''

Though A didn't believe it at first, he found that to be exactly true. It didn't take long before he could find some difficulty in breathing. He couldn't bring in any oxygen in, and he could feel that it was draining him. He attempted punching the walls, but it felt like he was hitting a steel cold wall. The thing didn't budge. Using more energy to breakout didn't do him any good, after a few punches; he was on his knees, lightning cloak gone, and becoming paler by the second.

Naruto snapped his fingers, allowing the Raikage to breathe with the disappearance of his jutsu. A took a long breath before standing up, ''activate your cloak so we can end this,'' he did as told, but before he could even think, Naruto was already in front of him. He was shocked. In fact, he hadn't even taken his eyes off the blond, and yet he'd disappeared from his sight. He did note the strange markings on his eyes, but had to brace himself when a hammer took out all the air inside his lungs.

A Sage mode Naruto pummeled the Raikage straight on the chest with a Sage, and wind enhanced punch. Wind alone was able to break through the defenses of the man. And as a result, A coughed a mouthful of blood before being sent plummeting away into the rocks on the other side. The man crushed several rocks in his wake, while his body refused to take any command. The momentum stopped a distance away from Naruto, and the man found it difficult to comprehend what had just happened.

''Natural chakra,'' Naruto said, standing behind the fallen Raikage, whose lightning cloak was still burning; A noticed that the blond now looked normal. ''When in Sage mode only, my punches rival those of Tsunade. They can be stronger than hers. In this case, I was also using wind, which you can remember what one of its punches felt like. A combination of my own strength, Senjutsu, and Wind, makes Tsunade's strength nothing before me.''

There were bits of information that were revealed, but A was quick to shove them at the back of his head. His punches weren't exactly as powerful as Tsunade's but he made up for that by his speed. He guessed he could concede defeat now. ''Give me a hand,'' he said to Naruto after deactivating his cloak.

**Iwagakure**

Onoki sighed deeply, frowning: he'd just had another of those spats with his granddaughter. She was deeply into the idea of murdering Naruto for what he did. He wanted pay back, and would get it eventually. But there would be no gain for working things out in a hurry. Naruto had allies, and if they moved against him at any time soon, they would have those allies to deal with and Onoki was sure he couldn't deal with them all. It would be the end of Iwagakure if he played any stupid games.

In all his best capabilities and power, he was trying to make Kurotsuchi see the bigger picture. But the woman didn't want to understand. Perhaps her already existing hatred of the blond because of Minato's actions during the Third War made things difficult, and the recent actions by Naruto himself didn't make things any easy him either as the people were demanding blood. But so far, he was holding them back and wanted the same to be for Kurotsuchi. He wanted for her to at least understand him as she was his most likely successor. He didn't want a brat who allowed her emotions to get the better of her. He wanted a rational and logical adult to take over him.

Because Kurotsuchi didn't want to grow up, even till this day, he had to remain Tsuchikage despite his very advance age. Other villages already had fifth Kages, and fourth, but he was still holding on as the only Sandaime Kage living. Because of his situation, he couldn't retire. Besides, what would he do if he retired?

He'd thought that he would have Kumogakure as an ally in the fight as Naruto seemed to be allied with Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konohagakure, he didn't bother adding the smaller villages but how could he forget Amegakure? Naruto's own village was nothing. It didn't have a military power. Naruto seemed to have clawed his way into the smiles of the Raikage, and their Jinchuriki. In fact, if the latest report was true, the blond regularly trained in the village with both Kumo's Jinchuriki.

After that battle with the Raikage weeks ago, it seemed that the two had become 'good' friends' but A was still not part of the UN or its alliance. He was just someone who got along with the president and founder of the organization. Well, that was at least some good news as the man could still be swayed because he hadn't actually joined anything but just kept close ties with the blond. It was more because of what the blond gave to the Raikage anyway. If anyone could look at it differently, one would be inclined to believe that A was using the blond, but it wasn't the case.

''Thinking so deep is not good for someone your age, Onoki,'' a voice he could remember snapped him out of his thoughts. Onoki looked up and saw the man who had revealed himself as Shinji standing just away from the entrance with an Uchiha beside him. He cursed the Uchiha just by looking at him. While the Uchiha remained stoic at the door, Shinji walked up to him.

''What do you want?'' Onoki demanded in a low but firm tone. His gut wasn't telling himself anything good by this unexpected visit. But then again, this man never came here when expected. He always showed up on unusual times.

''Nothing much from you,'' Shinji stated. ''You have refused my offer to join me, and I've been patient long enough. I can no longer wait for you to decide, so I will decide for you. My parade is about to begin, and this will be the start of it.''

Onoki narrowed his eyes, ''what are you talking about?'' by now, he was on his feet. A troubling fact that bothered him was that he couldn't feel any of his Anbu in the corners of the office. ''Are you by any chance attemp-'' he wasn't allowed to finish as Shinji suddenly appeared in front of him, with so much speed that his old eyes could barely follow. ''What ar-'' those words dried up in his throat when he felt something cold driving through his chest. He looked down and saw that a blade had stabbed him from behind. ''Uchiha,'' Onoki growled as it was the Uchiha who had stabbed him. He didn't speak further as he was thrown towards the wall rather forcibly while he started leaking large amounts of blood.

''I thought you said you didn't want to do it?'' Shinji casually asked Sasuke while Onoki was busy fighting for his life at the corner of the office. Onoki by now was certain that there was no one to help him. He was going to die a pathetic death, stabbed in the back by the cursed Uchiha.

''You were taking too long,'' Sasuke shrugged.

Shinji didn't say anything to that. He snapped his fingers, and the Tsuchikage tower was obliterated within seconds, causing great panic within the Village. He didn't immediately leave along with Sasuke; he stayed for a moment just for the people to see him. While shinobi surrounded him, he looked up into the heavens, and raised both his hands, ''I have killed your Kage, and soon, I will return and subdue this village.'' He had to conquer other lands first, and build upon the great empire of the Bijuu King.

**A few weeks later, Konoha**

It was already a new year, the 18th year since the Kyuubi rampage. Tsunade had been Hokage for almost a quarter of those years, and as the days continue to pile up, she was regretting ever being tricked into taking this opportunity to lead the village her grandfather left behind. Things just got messy by the day, and more problems always liked to show up at her door. It was becoming frustrating that she couldn't even begin to rest with everything that has been happening around within the elemental Nations.

Tsunade looked at her former teammate, who was sitting at the window, looking outside the office. He'd just returned from a week long mission he was doing with Naruto and that bastard Kakashi. They'd been destroying many of Orochimaru's bases, but the snake himself continued to evade them all. She didn't know about the latest results though.

''And the long face?'' She suspected that it was because of another disappointment as the Snake could disappear whenever he wanted to. Orochimaru didn't have any allies they could think off either. So locating him was difficult. At least they destroyed his hideouts, and stopped more abominations from happening.

''No matter what I see in those hideouts, and how many times I see it, I can never become used to it,'' the disgust in whatever he saw was clearly evident in his expression. Jiraiya was sick because of the things that Orochimaru did to other humans. ''I do wonder what I was thinking when I chased after him...'' Orochimaru was no longer human. There was no human who could do things that even the Kyuubi agreed to be disgusting and beyond its taste.

''More inhuman experiments?''

''Yes,'' Jiraiya nodded. ''We are getting close to destroying all of them though. So far, Naruto has located 35 around the Elemental Nations, and we have so far destroyed 21. We will destroy the rest in the coming weeks.''

Silently sorting out some thoughts, Tsunade spoke, ''I guess it is only a matter of time before you finally catch Orochimaru.'' Between the three of them, they wouldn't allow the snake to escape. They would kill him and remove his abomination for an existence from the face of the world. The Sandaime Hokage should have done so long ago, but he was too soft on his beloved student.

How had he even begun to love such a person anyway? Tsunade thought even if the Sandaime could see what his student was doing, he wouldn't hate him, but he would be greatly disappointed and blame himself for not realizing it sooner that Orochimaru was evil. The only right the Third did by Orochimaru was by denying him the mantle of Hokage. If he had given him the power, more horrors would have certainly occurred.

''We will catch him soon enough. We were really close on catching a few days ago, but he managed to escape,'' Jiraiya frowned at the memory. Naruto's visits to the lightning country weren't just for his 'friendship' with the Raikage; he was also doing a search on Orochimaru. The hideout they'd found in the lightning country was a big one, and contained much valuable information. If they'd known they were going to find him there, they would have killed him. ''But we managed to get valuable information from the hideouts.''

Tsunade nodded, ''were you able to see the Sharingan?''

Jiraiya's frown deepened at the question. On the first day of their search, Naruto had revealed to him that Orochimaru had the Sharingan and most likely possessed chakra from all 9 bijuus like Juubi, whose name is Shinji. Of course Jiraiya had been shocked when Naruto revealed this information; more shocked was Tsunade when he told her. The Godaime was skeptical though. But he had confirmed it with his own eyes. ''Yes,'' just a glimpse of it though. ''Naruto does not appear to be worried by it though. He simply says he knows the Sharingan in and out whenever I ask why he isn't worried.''

''The little brat has become high all mighty these days,'' Tsunade snorted at the thought that Naruto could handle things by himself with Orochimaru.

''He's just simply reverted to the way he was when he came back from his training,'' Jiraiya said. ''But that is because he is dealing with some emotional problems right now, and he is the leader of his village. The UN still gives him plenty of work as its operations have started without the required number of forces, which means he has to do more work himself,'' the police force was the main body that has started operating within the Fire country and along the borders. Kakashi led the forces, but the lack of qualified shinobi forced Naruto to have his clones on many occasions.

''What emotional problems?'' She already knew of his work overload. Shizune had treated him once after he'd collapsed due to exhaustion, but she didn't know he had any emotional problems.

''You know that Naruto started seeing Miyuki some months ago, right?'' Tsunade nodded. ''Well, after the Un started off, as well as rebuilding Uzu, he didn't have time for her, and she didn't like clones. Things got bad, and Naruto went to Yugito, and Mei. Friendship with the two woman blossomed, and eventually, Naruto ended up sleeping with both of them. About a month ago, he patched things up with Miyuki; He admitted having slept with the women to Miyuki and she kicked him out. The poor boy has been struggling to deal with it, he even feels bad as he feels that he betrayed her.''

''So he can control his emotions rather well, but doesn't actually know how to deal with them,'' Tsunade said. ''Why don't you help him?''

''He won't allow me. I actually heard this from Kakashi,'' Kakashi was also a dead end as even he failed to handle his own emotions. ''Bottling everything up is killing him, so to avoid it showing, he puts on a blank mask, always.''

''Should we send his friends?''

Jiraiya thought of it for a moment before nodding. ''That is actually a good idea, Hime.'' The toad sage said smiling. ''I will go gather them,'' he was gone after that, not even giving her a chance to say anything.

Tsunade merely shook her head, smiling sadly. Her relationship with Naruto may be strained, but she still cared for him, and wouldn't miss an opportunity to help him like this. Jiraiya gave his bests efforts also. He even worked for the police force, just so Naruto could be free. The sannin was a member of the disciplinary committee, it wasn't right for him to do that kind of work, but he did it anyway, just for Naruto's sake.

Both tried, she was sure Minato and Kushina would recognize their efforts.

But Naruto's dream looked like it was going to kill him. Peace seemed far away with the chaos Sasuke and Juubi were causing. The world was becoming unstable, and Naruto, the UN was failing to maintain the balance. Tsunade could laugh and say she knew this was going to fail. But she wouldn't. Not when members of the UNA still helped each other in the time of need.

**Wave country**

Despite the cheery sound and smell of the sea, Naruto's head was ringing with other things inside his head. He was at the harbor, having just finalized a deal for shipments that needed to reach Uzu within a week. The thought of returning to his beloved home made his head ache. He had some fun moments inside Uzu, but the work was killing him. He hadn't thought things would become like this. The need for more helpers was an important job he had to handle. He'd already put on a request to his allies as well as to A. Kumogakure boasted a large population, and what he needed now wasn't exactly shinobi, but civilians who knew administration.

In many times he'd been forced to get on his knees and work with others. Well, on the bright side of things, he led by example. And since he frequently works with the employees of the UN, they build a good trust between the president and the underlings. They grew to have an understanding of the way things worked. And for this reason, Naruto could still smile at the end of the day.

Shinji and Sasuke may be giving him the pains, but their days would come soon. With them around, the stability that had formed after the Third War was vanishing slowly. Shinji's empire wasn't doing any good to the shinobi world. It was putting many on edge, making fights boil over, making things...

Naruto stopped, a bit annoyed that this person had been watching him for a good hour now, but hasn't even made an attempt to reach him. But she has gotten a lot closer now. ''Come, Kurotsuchi. Have a seat with me,'' he was sitting at the edge of a structure that was above the sea, with his feet playing in the water.

The black head woman, now leader of Iwagakure walked up to him, ''I hate you,'' she started. ''I can't even believe that I am sitting next to you like this. If someone had suggested it while my grandfather was still alive, I would have killed them.''

''But now because of your position you understand how things work. How long have you been in this country, two weeks? What do you want?''

It took some doing, clench fists, grinding teeth, and silently curses but she finally said it. ''Your help,'' he said in a whisper.

''That must have taken a lot of beating to your pride to say that,'' Naruto stated stoically, looking straight at the endless water ahead of him.

''Don't mistake me,'' Kurotsuchi growled. ''I loath your very existence, but I've tried everywhere I could, and got no help. A won't even recognize me as a leader, I can't go to Konoha. You're the so called helper of those in need, right? That is what you created this UN for.'' Everyone she talked to kept telling her to speak to him as he would be able to help her, but it had taken her two months for her to make that decision, and a lot of drinking.

''Sasuke and Shinji are your problem,'' Naruto said. ''Well, you have come to the right person. I will help you, but on one condition.''

''What?''

''Never mind,'' Naruto waved his right hand dismissively. ''What exactly do you want? Shinji and Sasuke are enemies of mine, and I will one day fight the death fight with them. So you can say that right now, we aren't enemies because we have two mutual enemies.''

''You're still my enemy, just not a threat right now,'' she had to handle those two first. Well, she couldn't do it on her own. They'd embarrassed her the day Shinji returned to subdue Iwagakure. They'd overpowered her and killed many of her man. She'd been powerless, but he could do something. Sasuke was his former teammate, and had encountered Shinji before.

''Whatever helps you sleep at night,'' Naruto said standing up. ''Come, let us go to Uzu, so we can discuss the terms of my help...''

**A day later, Amegakure**

Konan thanked Nagato for teaching her the rain sensing jutsu. If it wasn't for it, she would have never taken notice of the snake that had infiltrated the village. She didn't bother to leave her tower when she realized that he was coming directly at her - Which was something that Naruto had predicted. She stayed in her office and waited for the snake to arrive.

''Hello, Konan-san,'' Orochimaru greeted with a small grin.

''Orochimaru,'' Konan said, leaning further back to her chair. A thought came to her and she spoke it. ''Life is unpredictable, isn't it? Years ago, you wanted to kill me, Nagato and Yahiko. A few years later, you were taking orders from Nagato as a member of the Akatsuki, and now here we are.''

Orochimaru didn't lose his grin, ''a few unexpected things happen. But I never actually joined Akatsuki for anything but to survive, and gain a bit of information about the organization.''

''Yes, you relied on us for survival for that short time you were with us. You ran off to the kids you nearly killed years ago to hide from Konoha and Danzo,'' Konan stressed every word. ''But that doesn't matter anyway. What do you want?''

''Naruto-kun has been causing me problems,'' Orochimaru said, walking further closer to Konan, but he stopped just away from her desk. ''I just came to send a message since he got closer last time.''

''I see,'' Konan said standing up. ''Well, Naruto's not here, but you know that. However...'' she trailed off. As the ceiling above Orochimaru opened, spitting thousands of pieces of paper. Orochimaru was quick to activate the Sharingan. His eyes narrowed when he realized that they were paper bombs. Konan held out her right hand, the walls of the office began to peel off, revealing them to be made of more papers. Thousands, of paper bombs began to float around the office.

On the floor, Orochimaru stood, blue markings began to form, as well as above the ceiling. The door was shut, so were the windows, no escape. Orochimaru looked at Konan, half of her body had already been turned into paper, as well as her face.

''The seal on the floor and ceiling are works of Naruto. The one on the floor has millions of my paper bombs stored up, and Naruto says he added some that have the Sharingan's flames stored up. The one on the ceiling contains natural lightning. It was added just in case.'' Konan explained.

''This is quite the suicide trap you have here,'' he wouldn't admit it, but even he wouldn't have thought of something so deadly. He was even impressed that this was created with the thought that he would one day walk in here.

''This isn't a suicide trap,'' Konan correct, making Orochimaru frown. ''One more thing, there are three chakra barriers surrounding this office. They are set to contain the explosion from destroying parts of Ame. Naruto says he tested them by having them withstand tailed beast bombs.''

''Do you think this is enough to kill me?''

''Honestly, I don't know,'' Konan said. ''However, even if you do survive, in what shape do you think you will be after the explosion? The amount of force alone created by the explosion because of the contained space will be enough to crush your body. Should you survive, I will be waiting, so will Naruto.'' It wouldn't take him a minute to get here if she summoned him.

**A week later, Wind capital**

Flowers in his hands, and casual attire, check. Naruto wore a smile as he walked into Miyuki's home. He'd received a letter from her, saying she wanted to talk to him. He'd quickly left everything to get here as he thought there was another chance for reconciliation.

The blond walked through the rooms but didn't find her anyway. The last place he decided to visit was her study. The moment he opened the door, everything became in illusion. His body froze along with his blood: Sasuke and Shinji were inside the office. That alone brought him great amount of fear, not for himself, for Miyuki. What were they doing in here? He couldn't see her, but he could see her hair as the chair was turned the other side.

His mind was already working overtime to feel the stench of blood. He didn't even want to think of something happening to her.

''How pathetic for a shinobi to be involved with a civilian. You should know that in your position, you put these kind of people at risk since they can't protect themselves,'' Shinji stated, spinning the chair. ''Now observe: this happened because of your choice. She was killed because you failed to protect her, you chose peace over her. If you hadn't forsaken her for your stupid dream, nothing like this would've happened. You killed her!''

On the chair, the beautiful Daimyo sat, head tilting the left side, hair in place, eyes close. Fresh blood leaking off her mouth, and a cut on her neck, leaking more blood. Naruto's face twisted as the world turned upside down. Yes, this happened because he failed to protect her. Worse, this happened while she was still mad at him for betraying her trust. He wasn't able to properly apologize.

Shinji didn't mind the fact that the air became heavy, possibly due to Naruto's anger. No, it was literally heavy. ''Pathetic, wallow in self pity and blame yourself as you should. Feel miserable like other people, experience the hatred, and after everything, tell me if you can still smile and say you can understand me, and that we can live together peacefully.'' Shinji looked at Sasuke. ''Don't kill him, I want to watch him suffer,'' he then disappeared.

''Don't worry, she didn't experience any pain at all,'' Sasuke said grinning. ''Though I did pierce through her heart,'' he stated, revealing the hidden mark of where he'd pierced her with a Chidori.

''Why?'' the cursed Uchiha had nearly killed him with that Jutsu, and now he had done this to Miyuki. The more he thought of it, the more his face twisted into a nasty way, and his leaking chakra didn't give off a happy feeling.

Sasuke merely laughed. ''Because I felt like it,'' he said casually.

The desk in front of Naruto shattered, while multiple cracks appeared around where the blond stood. Some potent chakra had forced this and if it wasn't for the fact that he'd been exposed to Juubi's vile chakra, Sasuke would've been on his knees now.

Naruto blurred towards Sasuke in the blink of an eye, catching Sasuke by his throat with his right hand. But the Uchiha disappeared. Illusion. Naruto wasn't impressed, or even surprised. His look just remained twisted while chakra was clearly visible around his body. When Sasuke appeared behind the blond, he found the left palm of the blond waiting for him. ''Your hand in genjutsu is quite pathetic. You need to be better than Itachi to actually put me under an illusion.''

Sasuke would have responded if it wasn't for what his eyes were seeing. There were many thin and clearly sharp spears glaring at him; all wind. How Naruto had formed them under such a short time was a miracle to him. Those things didn't look any less dangerous to his life.

''There are actually hundreds of them,'' Naruto stated, still not facing the Uchiha, his tone was just stone cold. It actually made Sasuke feel some cold shivers down his spine. ''This is one of my inventions, wind style execution. Those spears can pierce through anything. It takes them less than a second to reach their target, regardless of distance. I've tested them with Itachi's Susano'o, and nothing less than a complete thing will result in your body cut into pieces. Still, because of their numbers, speed and size, they can still penetrate through the defenses of the complete Susano'o.

The main question though is, little Sasuke, can you activate your complete Susano'o before these things reach you? Do you even have a complete Susano'o? If you have it, some of those spears will perhaps pierce through your eyes, gut, knees, heart, family jewels, forehead, or all these places.'' Naruto formed a fist, twisting his head to get a look at Sasuke. The Uchiha took notice of those ripple pattern eyes, ''so, Uchiha, how many do you think will hit you?''

End of chapter

**Well eh, everything in this chapter was unexpected. There were a lot of time skips if you noticed. Took me some time to think over how I could proceed with the story after the last few chapters. While I was busy planning, I realize that I couldn't really move this story in the way I wanted and writing something was really difficult.**

**The title of this story is peace seeker, the story is supposed to show a mc who is seeking peace. It doesn't say anything about actually finding peace. What I wanted to write was Naruto's journey as one who seeks peace: this includes all the troubles, challenges, and joyous moments he faces in the journey. The end would've been left as a cliffhanger.**

**Till this point, I have written a lot of stuff, but never actually gave the emotional draining stuff that I had promised in the beginning of the story. This chapter acts as a reminder to Naruto that in the path of peace, he will lose things he cares for, there will be things that will make him question his choices. I'd promised to give that, and said the story would possibly reach about 400k in words, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.**

**I wanted to end in this chapter, just to get for you to see how Naruto will deal with all that happened in this chapter, and how he decides to move, and whether he will decide to live for the peace that cost him dearly, I will add two more chapters. Yes, the next two chapters will see the end of this story.**

**The omnipresent Sage**


	29. Chapter 29

**Before we get into the chapter, I'd like to disclose some important information that I didn't show in the previous chapter. In chapter 25, Naruto said there would be a General Assembly on the 3rd of January. From the last chapter, it is obvious that this date has already passed. I would like to show you the new structure of the UN, and UNA. There are just a few changes made: I don't want you to be confused as you go through this chapter.**

**UN's Supreme Council**

**Chair: Naruto**

**Add members: Kirihara**

**: Gaara**

**Chair of the UNA NEC: Konan, deputy is Shion.**

**UN EC: Chair is Mei Terumi**

**Deputy is Gaara.**

**Kakashi has replaced Gaara as head of Military Force.**

**UN: President, Namikaze Naruto**

**Deputy President, Subaku no Gaara.**

***All offices of the UN are in Uzu, except for those of the Police Force. The Supreme Court is also within Uzu. UNA buildings were still build in the Fire country, but HQ is in Uzu.***

**Chapter 29**

''Any luck this time?'' Tsunade asked her former teammate who had just appeared into her office. The Sannin was doing rounds around the Elemental Nations, searching for Naruto, but there hasn't been any luck so far.

''No,'' Jiraiya responded solemnly.

''Where do you think he might be, Jiraiya, What would Minato do if he had been alive, What if something happens to him?''

''He is still alive,'' Jiraiya said, a bit strongly than intended. ''I will find him eventually. Thinking of what Minato would do will only make us miserable than we already are,'' the Toad Sage threw a scroll at Tsunade.

''What is it?''

''Orochimaru's remains. I got them from Konan. The bounty on his head is to be transferred into the UN's account. Konan says she last saw Naruto the time they got rid of the snake. Since then, he hasn't appeared to anyone, not to Yugito, not in Uzu, and not to Mei.''

The fact that Orochimaru was no longer in the picture brought some confirm Jiraiya's heart. He would have liked to have been the one to get rid of Orochimaru because1 they used to be friends, but he accepted the good work Konan did for the shinobi world. With the snake gone, it meant less problems and more souls would be freed from his horrid experiments.

''So, the snake is dead, huh? It is hard to believe that he is finally dead. I am more surprised than Konan had a hand in killing him,'' she should be excited, but Tsunade wasn't. ''What of the Hot Springs?''

Jiraiya shook his head, ''He wouldn't risk it. Not after this...'' a few moments of silence passed before Jiraiya spoke again. ''I'm going to look again. I'll meet you at Uzu, just in time for the emergency assembly...''

An emergency had been called upon by the Konan and Gaara in light of recent events. They wanted to discuss how they were going to handle things with Naruto's absence.

''Be careful, Jiraiya,'' the Toad Sage didn't hear her because he was already gone. Tsunade shook her head. Almost every time he leaves her office, it always appears like he is running away from her.

Tsunade settled on her chair, trying to comfort herself, if ever the chair comforted anyone. A more solemn look greeted her face as the missing Naruto thoughts chained any happiness she had. 'Where are you, Naruto?'

If only he could hear her. If only he could just appear just to tell her that he was alright and would return soon. If that could happen, she would be able to smile, breathe the sigh of relief, and rejoice that she hadn't pushed him away from her because of her stubbornness.

**Sunagakure**

Gaara had never been much of a critical person since his rebirth, he accepted people for who they were and looked the world in a different outlook. It was a good thing for his village, a village he'd decided to change for so that he could right his previous wrongs. He'd never shared much of a brotherhood with Naruto, but he hoped that one day they could. It is this new mindset that makes him see things in a different manner, wish for things to turn into a better outcome.

He could remember Naruto's last visit very well. ''Gaara, in all my life I have been through a lot of pain, I have learned to hold back some emotions, feelings in order to continue with my quest. I once thought I had a brother, but that turned out miserably. You are and I, are able to understand each other because of the burden we both carry. Our talks are usually business, but I do think that you're a good person, perhaps even better than me. Our past means nothing, the present is what matters. This is why I say that you may be better than me. I am more violent than you are, and have contradicting emotions I fail to handle.

My village has become Uzu, and your family is now extended towards Sunagakure. We're both young and leaders. Both our hands are bloodied, but we have our mind set on the good. To me, you're a family, you will be someone I will no longer call just a friend, but a brother.

I made you vice-president of the UN because I know you can understand me better than anyone. In my stead, you will lead the UN. I know it will take much time for peace to be achieved, but I fear that I will not lead all the way. You're in a position to lead the UN without me. Today, I give you the reigns: when I can't lead the UN, lead it. Do what you feel is right, I won't question your choices, but I will support them. Don't fear what others will think, or if you will cripple the organization I built. Just do what you feel is right.''

Naruto was his friend, and he would never think once of betraying him. Not that he has any thought of betraying anyone. Political pressure was at times frustrating and it could make you walk away from your path because of the image you must keep. Gaara believed that Naruto was saying this because he knew that if one day he wasn't there to lead, some people would start playing other cards.

As Naruto admitted, ''not everyone has the right heart within the UN. But we can only work with them and hope that they will change.''

Gaara was living this now. With Naruto's disappearance, he had taken reigns as acting president of the UN, and he held more power within the UNA now. He understood the principles and laws of the UN to the heart. Since the UNA was a branch of the UN, it was possible for the UN to out rule it or deny its requests if they didn't abide the objectives of the UN.

Gaara assumed that Naruto knew that something like this would happen; hence he decided to make special corps managed by the UN. The special forces directly under the President not the Executive, and was powerful enough to make any village consider things twice. The special force was after all made of Jinchurikis; both had sworn to follow the UN to the heart, regardless of which village had done wrong. There was also Ame's army which could be deployed at any time, should there be a need for it.

Ever since he took reigns, Gaara had received proposals he had refused sternly, and now he was faced with more leaders, he didn't know what they wanted for sure, but he had his guesses. It was to be expected anyway. Some people could never oppose the idea of furthering their own agendas when given the opportunity. Naruto's disappearance did just that.

''It is really unfortunate that our president has disappeared,'' the man sitting in front of his desk stated. He was of old age, possibly around 60's. You had to expect old people to be plotting things.

''It is indeed,'' Gaara said. Naruto had shown him all leaders of the villages that have joined the UNA and told him all those who weren't recruited by him but offered to join because of the rumor they heard and when things explained to them, they found the idea to be appealing - or so, they said.

''Have you heard anything, Kazekage-dono?''

Gaara shook his head. ''There hasn't been anything new I have received from anyone. But I did hear from the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, that the Yondaime Raikage wishes to lend his hand in the search.''

''Ah, another leader our president has befriended,'' the old man said, smiling. ''Why inform the Hokage though? Konohagakure isn't exactly a full member of the alliance and Kumogakure isn't within the Alliance.''

''I cannot answer that question since I have not spoken to either the Hokage or the Raikage. I was only recently informed of the development...'' Gaara didn't want to make any more speculations about the issue of Kumo. Just because Kumo wasn't a member didn't mean that they couldn't accept their help.

''That is understandable,'' the old man nodded. ''I was informed that Naruto was working with the Godaime Tsuchikage...'' Iwagakure had been left weakened because of its Shi's actions. The day that man returned to the village, he had vandalized many buildings, killed many shinobi, leaving the village with much rebuilding to do. The situation wasn't pretty as no one seemed really interested in helping out the village. Well, aside from Naruto.

''It isn't exactly Naruto who is working with Iwagakure, but it is the UN. Our main goal isn't just to bring peace, but to stabilize the shinobi world, help those in need, and become a savior to those who needed saving...'' Gaara responded carefully, choosing his words carefully.

''Yes, I am aware of that. I have read the UN's charter,'' the old man waved his right hand, saying no need to give him a lecture. ''You're the president now, and I must ask you which resources are being used to help Iwagakure. I doubt any of the members within the UNA will be overly happy when they are informed of this. We weren't exactly informed of this decision.''

Gaara knew that it would cause chaos if money donated by members of the UNA was being used. The leaders were being stingy with their money, and with their shinobi forces. Resources put forth were always questioned, and they wanted to know what exactly it is that it was used for. ''We're using the UN's resources, put forth by Naruto, the Mizukage and I.''

''I see, so this is the UN's work outside of the alliance,'' Gaara didn't respond since it wasn't a question. ''On another matter: there are certain members, whom I represent that are displeased with the missing president's rule. He has too much power. Aside from his position as President, he is a member of the UN's EC as well as part of the UNA's NEC, and chair of the Supreme Council. Konan-san, and Mei-san also seem to share a special relationship with him... I've also heard some disturbing news about the leader of Amegakure, which makes me question Naruto's decisions. No matter what, a leader can never abandon his post and disappear like this.''

Gaara's expression remained blank as he absorbed everything. ''What disturbing news?''

''You're close to Naruto, you must know.'' Gaara didn't say anything. ''I imagine if this is informed the rest of the members, or taken up to the supreme council, Supreme Court, Konan will be removed from power, and will most likely face expulsion from the UNA.''

The Supreme Council only gathered when there are matters of extreme importance. It was recently formed when member of the UNA demanded that they be involved, or be given a chance to have a say in the UN's running. Before the Supreme Council was formed, the UNA basically had no authority over the UN and they couldn't object to the UN's decision, and since they'd signed in for the organization to have jurisdiction in their lands, there had to be a council that convened when things were not going well, and in times of war.

The Disciplinary Committee had been put in place to correct when things were going wrong, but the leaders still wanted a committee that mixed both the UN and UNA's EC's. However, only the Supreme Court could decide whether the Supreme Council can be called upon. If it is matters that the Supreme Court can pass on judgment, then they will be no need for the Supreme Council.

''It would be unfortunate if the past is used against her. And it would be definitely against the principles of the UN...'' Gaara stated.

''Principles aside: this is a matter that should have been disclosed during the first assembly. Some villages who were victims will be sympathetic and I assume that you know very well how people think. Once this is shown to light, members will start thinking there are other secrets Naruto is hiding,'' the man paused. ''Take your time to consider this. Until Naruto returns, if he does return, we will not bring it up. One more thing: I am very familiar with the man who has taken over from the absent Daimyo, Miyuki. I have yet to hear of his decision regarding the UN or the UNA. What really affects you are his thoughts on Sunagakure.''

With those words said, the old man left Gaara's office. The Kazekage was fully aware that the old man had a seat in the supreme council, but he wasn't going to bend to the pressure of politics. Naruto wouldn't allow himself to be blackmailed, and would the handle the issue well. Gaara had no doubts that it would cause problems if Konan's past was revealed, and it was really a matter that needed Naruto himself. But if things do blow out, he would have to deal with things himself.

Still, if the matter is brought to light, the Disciplinary Committee will investigate, should Konan be found guilty, they will take their findings and recommendations to the Supreme Court, which will hand in the final judgment. Considering that Konan has not broken any of the UN's law, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court would expel her. The UNA may vote for her removal, but if the Supreme Court says she hasn't broken any law, it won't be within the UN to remove her. However, because it was democracy, she would be likely forced out.

Well, that will only happen if he doesn't manage things well.

Once the old man had left the office, Temari walked in. ''Was this one also promising you support if you gave them some positions in the UN?'' It really made Temari bitter on how rotten some people were. Small villages were already moving towards grabbing power within the UN, which was the main body. While they couldn't get into the EC, they wanted in Military, Disciplinary Committee and the Judicial Committee, both latter's were independent committees.

Some wanted Gaara to hold on to his position as president of the UN because Naruto has proven to be emotionally weak. If he could just disappear like this, never mind the burial of his partner, then he wasn't fit to lead. Temari didn't have a problem with Naruto, and was certain that he had his reasons. She was even assured that Gaara would never betray Naruto just for the sake of power.

''No,'' Gaara said with a small barely visible frown. ''He has tried getting things on his favor within the UN with Naruto. Naturally, Naruto said no. This time, Naruto isn't here and he has gained some information. I don't know what his main objective is, but he doesn't want Naruto in power.''

''Why?''

''Wind, Fire, and Water joined because of Naruto. Amegakure and Hot Springs have also joined because of him. All these five are the main players and support Naruto. That means that Naruto owns the UN, and has influence over everything that occurs within. That makes him untouchable.''

''With his influence and growing power, challenging him won't be easy. Given that Naruto won't accept anything that is contrary to the law he wrote, he will refute and expose anything that is contrary to what he believes. When executing laws of the UN, he can be rather ruthless. That man can wear a different mask if there be a need.''

Gaara nodded. ''With Naruto around, none of the bodies of the UN will be used for anything illegal, and no one will succeed in trying to enrich himself using the organizations resources. So, they need a puppet leader, a figurehead who will sometimes take orders from them and act like he doesn't see some of their illegal deals.''

Temari snorted. ''So, what did he want from you. He must know you won't betray Naruto.''

Gaara took his time before responding, ''The acting Wind Daimyo will probably be Miyuki's uncle. Much of Suna's survival depends on the funding from the Daimyo. That old man will make things difficult for us if things don't go his way by manipulating the Daimyo. He also knows about Konan, and you know what that will do if it becomes public.'' Gaara could only hope that Miyuki is alive and Naruto returns as soon as he finishes whatever it was that he was doing.

''So, you stab Naruto in the back and he will keep his mouth shut.''

Gaara shook his head slightly. ''He doesn't intend to keep it to himself: he will eventually tell, just to discredit Naruto. Should I support him in the chaos that is to ensure, he will return the favor.''

This was going to be troublesome, as Shikamaru would say. ''How are you going to handle it then? We don't know when Naruto will return or when he is found. Our Daimyo is missing and since that senile old man is going to tell, we must do damage control or the trust will be broken.''

''The disciplinary committee can't act because the Akatsuki had yet to become a recognized international criminal organization. And under the laws of the UN, nothing can be hold against Konan since she was a member of the Akatsuki before the UN was formed. However, before the general assembly, things work differently, as well as the supreme council. Things will be decided on a vote. This is democracy after all,'' Gaara smiled those last words. Those were words Naruto often said. ''Jiraiya, Mei and Koyuki are the only ones aware of this, aside from us. I will speak to them, and figure out how to handle the issue.''

''Naruto left you with a heavy burden, huh?''

Gaara nodded, ''It is a good thing though,'' he said. ''If I can pull through this with my head held high, it will mean a leader on me as a leader.''

**Kirigakure**

Things were very tricky at the moment; she'd not heard from Naruto in a month since the incidents that occurred. No one had heard from him. Mei had always kept close contact with the blond president of the UN; they always kept each other updated on latest incidents happening around working environment. Even though Naruto himself didn't come to her, the crows had become her neighbors; they were always present at her window, even at her home.

Mei had always feared that if Naruto was pushed to the limit, he wouldn't be alright. She didn't want to get things personal with him, but her own loneliness and the fact that depression didn't actually make him a better person led them to become personal. She'd always seen him a smart and fine young man. But had never actually thought that she would end up laying naked next to him one. Well, she wasn't complaining.

Getting that personal to him led her to make some discoveries about him as a person. Naruto was a good person, but he had some underlining emotional problems that needed to be dealt with: his mixed feelings for his father were a problem; his feelings towards Konoha were also mixed. He didn't like what they did to him, but he couldn't bring himself to hate them because it would be contradicting to his ideal of peace. There were also those mixed feelings towards that Uchiha brat.

Everything about his emotions was mixed. He was stuck between two lines. He had the capacity to forgive, but he'd been hurt too much. Still that didn't mean he couldn't forgive. He could. The lack of any action from the parties involved just made it difficult for him. Konoha never once admitted to wronging him, the Uchiha still cursed his existence.

He had been trained to keep control over his emotions, but not how to handle them. Mei guessed that it was good that no one programmed him on how to deal with his emotions. She believed that one could only offer guidance, but emotions had to do with self, and it was him that had to make the decisions that would suit his person. For Naruto, he buried much of his feelings because he didn't want to be a hypocrite and be contradicting to what he preached.

Well, Mei assumed the reason he didn't talk much about people understanding each other was because even he didn't understand some people and why they did some things. But he still believed that shinobi could co-exist, and live in this world together, peaceful. The main purpose of the UN and the UNA wasn't just to bring peace and have people understand each other, but it was to get people in the same field and find a way to stop wars and conflicts between villages from occuring.

With villages allied together, and the UNA's strict rules as well as the UN watching over everything, villages weren't likely to be fighting with each other, and even if some did start some spats, others were within their right to intervene. A problem would be when the UNA's NEC was unable to reach a decision due to divided opinions. Naruto had decided that it would be within the UN's power to act if things came to that. The UN's EC would take the appropriate course of action.

So far, everything was well between villages and didn't look like things would get mixed up any time soon, and that was at least some good news. But that didn't mean that there were no problems within the UN. Naruto's disappearance had left them with some problems that really need him to deal with him. She could only hope that they could deal with the matter peacefully.

Mei was much more worried about Naruto though. The news about the presumed death of the Wind Daimyo spread out like wild fire to all parts of the Elemental Nations, more pressing was the disappearance of the blond. Still, the body of the Daimyo wasn't anywhere, just her blood and Sasuke's were found in the in the partly destroyed Wind Palace. So, there was still some hope in her survival.

Where could Naruto have disappeared off too?

What they had all managed to gather from the information given by Shi was that Sasuke and Shinji attacked the Wind Daimyo. Naruto had gone there, but Shinji got away, leaving Naruto with Sasuke. That man didn't know what happened after that.

Admittedly, Mei had used the opportunity to get what she wanted. She felt guilty for doing that. Naruto was an emotional wreck. There were so many things he didn't know how to handle when it came to emotions. He couldn't even deal with women in a proper manner. Perhaps it was why she hadn't even tried that hard to get him naked.

The Mizukage was brought out of her thoughts when Ao bust through the door without even knocking. Judging by the look on his face, it was rather important, a matter of emergency. Evidenced when Mei didn't even question his unusual behavior but simply rose from her seat and demanded to know what was wrong, ''what is it Ao?''

''It is that man with black eyes!'' He sounded a bit out of breath like he had been running for a long distance. ''He arrived into the village a short while ago and I hurried here as quickly as I could. I didn't want to take action because a man like him would possibly take the civilians hostage.''

Mei was already at the door by the time Ao finished delivering his report. This was some serious matter. Naruto had long warned her about this man, he'd told her that he was dangerous and should never be underestimated. Considering all that he did to Iwagakure and his rumored empire, Mei could assume that he was here for another wake of destruction. She wasn't going to allow that to happen to Kiri, not after all the battles she fought to free this village from Yagura's blood-filled reign.

''What are you still waiting for?'' Mei almost yelled at Ao, who was still lagging behind her. ''Lead the way. We can't give him more time than he already have,'' with his appearance, she could assume that he would know where Naruto is since this man had also disappeared. This was his first appearance to people ever since the incident that occurred in the wind capital.

No one had been happy by the incident. Tsunade had called for blood on whoever had decided to hurt her grandchild. Mei was even surprised to see the woman in the UNA's meeting. Gaara had called for calm, while Konan, chair for the committee warned everyone to settle down. Gaara had tried all he could as acting president of the UN, in Naruto's absence to calm everyone down. He'd done so by pointing out that he was the one who was hurt most by the matter as it was his Daimyo who had disappeared and he was even so much of a fuss like them.

Further talks were held on how to deal with the issue, and with Naruto's absence, they couldn't contact the Jinchurikis or members of the group he'd set up. But in accordance, and following through the UN's principles, it was decided that Shinji would be marked as an international criminal and a number one priority of the UN. The UN was also set to help out Iwagakure because of the unfortunate incident that occurred.

Ao followed the Mizukage right behind her as quickly as he could. ''Should I send someone to call him?'' Him would be Kisame who appeared a week after Naruto disappeared, offering help where needed as he was apparently worried for the blond. It had taken a great deal for Mei to work around the matter, but she accepted it, trusting the fact that if Naruto had workings with the man, then it couldn't be anything bad.

''Yes,'' Mei said with a nod. ''His power will be ne-'' Mei didn't finish as she felt an explosion just away from the Mizukage tower. She cursed and ran, without even saying anything more to Ao. She could sense Kisame's chakra, and it only meant he'd recklessly attacked the enemy, even when they were still keeping his survival a secret.

Just away from the Mizukage tower, into the empty streets filled with water, the former Akatsuki member was grinning like a mad man while Shinji stared a distance away, riding on the water.

Seeing the Mizukage, Shinji smiled, disappearing from Kisame's view and appeared in front of Mei, ''how nice of you to join us, Mizukage. The party wouldn't have been deliciously pleasant without you.''

Mei narrowed her eyes at the man, ''what do you want?''

''I merely wish to continue with my parade,'' Shinji said casually. ''I wasn't able to do so in the past month because Naruto has been on my tail. He is quite determined to find me, and given how infuriated he seemed, I didn't want to deal with him.''

Well, that explained why he had disappeared and no one could find him. But it meant that if Naruto was searching for this man, then he would eventually land here if he was indeed on Shinji's tail. ''Were you afraid of him?''

''Heavens no,'' Shinji said. ''I just didn't want to deal with a man driven my anger. In Naruto's case, he is quite dangerous in that state. Well, what do you know, I was a bit afraid. It doesn't matter anyway, he must have cooled down a bit and down enough to be reasoned with.''

''I see,'' Mei said, snapping her fingers as her Anbu filled up the empty streets, while Kisame remained in his position. ''We cannot let you do as you please.''

''That is fine by me,'' Shinji said. ''There is no fun if you don't resist.''

There was some silence, but before anything could happen, there was a loud boom in front of Kisame. It seemed like something had crashed down the ground, literally. The crash had been enough to force all the water Kisame had created to splash across the streets. Naruto stood up in menacing glory.

''Ah, the real player finally arrives!'' Shinji turned around to face the blond. He outstretched his right hand. ''How about we clear the stag-'' he was cut off when Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him like a twister, Sage mode activated, as well as the wind armor. There was nothing on the blonds' face, but a blank expression that showed no sign of anything but a man determined.

''Hmm?'' Shinji tilted his head a little as if was confused about something. He looked at Naruto's right hand; the sword of the Thunder God was within grasp, black blood dripping from the lightning blade. It had happened so fast that he hadn't even felt the pain, but Naruto had managed to cut off his right hand. That was no problem though; he could always regenerate another one. ''I guess your speed isn't just all brag after all.''

Naruto said nothing. He merely pointed his blade at Shinji, who quickly made his distance, making the blond turn as he was following the man's movements quite easily.

''I've always wanted you to fight me seriously. I guess this is the day I see your might,'' Shinji stated, standing on top of a block, away from Naruto and the others. He didn't mind the Anbu around him. The bigger fish was present; these insects could all just perish for all he cared. ''Follow me,'' as much as he liked to destroy some stuff, fighting within the village wouldn't favor him, especially when surrounded by enemies, along with two Kage-level shinobi and a crazy Jinchuriki.

With Shinji gone, all eyes turned to Naruto. It was at this moment that they took notice of the fact that chakra was actually visible around his body, forming like an aura. He looked perfectly calm though. The blond took several steps away from Mei but stopped when she called out to him.

''Naruto,'' she wanted to rush over to him and hug, but she couldn't. ''Are you okay?''

''Stay out of the way. I will fight the vermin,'' his voice was just dead of any emotion. He didn't look at all crazed, but the lack of emotion was the worrying matter.

''Are you sure about this gaki?'' Kisame asked, already in front of Naruto. Itachi wouldn't be all pleased with him if Naruto lost himself in anger. The blond was after all still dealing with Itachi's death. Two people he cared for had died, and most of all, Sasuke hadn't betrayed him not just once, but twice. Shi had informed him that it had been his friend's little brother who stabbed Miyuki.

Naruto's left brow twitched slightly as though he had just taken notice of the former member of the Akatsuki. He held out his left hand, and the crow wielding both Shisui's eyes appeared in a puff of smoke. He handed the crow to Kisame, ''if something happens to me, use it. I've already programmed both eyes,'' he vanished from sight after those words let his mouth.

Kisame could only groan.

''Is it wise to let him go, in that state?''

''He will be fine,'' Kisame shrugged. Besides, there was insurance. ''Well, what are you waiting for, aren't we going to watch the battle just to ensure that things don't step out of hand?''

Mei shook her head and ordered her Anbu to secure the village before running off with Kisame and Ao. ''If he will be okay, why would things step out of hand?'' Mei demanded from Kisame.

''Naruto can't control the Kyuubi's power. With his emotional control, it should be easy, but the kid has some negative emotions inside of him. In the current state, it won't take much for him to flip,'' Kisame added. ''On the plus side, this battle is what he needs to release all of his anger.''

''You must be happy that you're going see some action...''

Kisame shook his head slightly. ''I don't like watching.''

The area Shinji was waiting for Naruto wasn't too far off Kirigakure. The villagers would no doubt feel the tremors of the battle he was going to have with the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. The place was nicely set up for a good battle: a few large rocks stood piled together. Obviously there had been a battle in this place before, probably during the civil war. It didn't concern him though as he had no sentimental value for things like that, he wasn't e even from this village to care about its history. The only reason he'd chosen to come here was because he wanted a place Naruto could fight without worrying about anything.

The thought of fighting the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki in an all out battle fueled his vile chakra with injections of natural energy that reacted violently to his body. He wished to practically jump up and down and sing beautiful songs to the forsaken heavens. Since his 'rebirth' he'd never actually had a good battle, he'd never actually felt anyone cut through his body with a sword. He was the one cutting people; he was the one doing bad things. But this battle represented the chance to slice things back while expecting to the sliced back.

Naturally, the thought of Naruto being able to kill him was outrageous as saying that Sunagakure was sunk beneath sea water after a Tsunami hit the surface.

When Naruto appeared, he felt his cold heart doing about a thousand miles per second. He wanted nothing more than to lunge at the blond, smack him around, or even say some nasty things just to see him angry. The blond preached peace, where was the peace in hunting him down? Where was the peace in rushing over here like a mad man, filled with anger and the thirst of his black blood? Surely, the blond didn't want to speak to him, he wanted to kill him.

It was a damn shame that he couldn't get his wish. But Shinji would get his. Given this battle, he could even decide to eliminate Naruto. If he did so, it would cause more outrageous reactions from the shinobi world. The allies of the UNA would be turning back and forth trying to find solutions on how to solve the problem. Shinji, knew, most of them had only agreed to the alliance because of Naruto and if he took away the lynch, everything would fall apart.

He could almost laugh at the image that was sprayed within his head. But he didn't laugh. He looked at the north, the Mizukage and her company where coming, but they were of no interest. Not now at least.

''I'd expected you to have cooled off a little so that we can have a little talk,'' Shinji started, standing on top of a large rock. His hands were folded across his chest, with an unreadable look on his face. ''You appear to be rational though, can we talk?'' He tilted his head as if waiting patiently for a response from Naruto.

In response, Naruto also tilted his head, as if organizing his thoughts, but he didn't say a work. His response was to blur out of sight, and appear in front of Shinji. The thing that stood in front of him merely raised a brow at the show of speed, and the lack of response from the blond. He wasn't expecting complete silence; he was expecting some kind of response from Naruto.

The little thing that Shinji had forgotten was that Naruto had his sword in his right hand. Naruto didn't exactly drive his lightning blade through Shinji's gut, he simply pointed it through the man's gut, and let rip of a thunder bolt that pierced through the man's gut. He couldn't have dodged it when he felt the little spike of chakra. When Naruto tried following this with the blade, Shinji caught Naruto's blade with his left hand, he followed this by a punch straight on Naruto's face.

He again arched a brow when the punch didn't even move the blond, but only managed to bend his head a little. He guessed it was the sage chakra that made all this hard, and it felt he had hit a steel cold wall.

Naruto snapped his fingers, blowing Shinji away from him, and the rock they stood on. The blade on his hand disappeared in a puff of smoke as he watched Shinji calmly: the opponent had settled down on the ground after being blown away from him.

''You're going to have to finally speak to me,'' Shinji stated.

There was a considerable silence that felt like a few moments, but in reality, it had only been a few seconds. Naruto contemplated on whether to speak to the opponent or just continue with his match. His mind couldn't think of a suitable reason to speak to the man, and so he questioned. ''Why?''

The coldness in the tone didn't even tinkle Shinji or as much as make him feel a few scratches on his back. He merely stood still, thinking of a better response to give. It seemed that the blond was curious about his response. Why should he speak to him? Why should he bother? They wanted two different things, he wanted to talk then battle and Naruto just wanted to kill him, and nothing more.

''Don't you thin-'' Again, Naruto had appeared in front of him. Unlike his usual twisting which disturbs the wind around him, he had been deathly silent, not even a small disturbance in the currents of the wind. Shinji was even surprised when Naruto's left punch was sent forth towards his chest. He quickly re-enforced his defenses by placing a layer of chakra around his chest. When the punch connected with the target, it caused a shockwave, and pushed Shinji backwards into a considerable distance.

Naruto didn't let up on his offense, he was up at Shinji's face again, this time he gripped the man's face forceful, before lifting him up into the air. Shinji didn't attempt to break free from the hold by pitting his physical prowess against Naruto's. Instead, his felt hand glowed with black energy; however, before he could release his jutsu, Naruto reacted quicker by slamming the man into the ground so forcefully that there was a small boom created by the crashing of Shinji's body down on the ground.

Naruto quickly summoned his blade, and tried stabbing it into his opponent's forehead while he was still down on the ground, but Shinji reacted to it, and cocked his head to the side, avoiding the sword from piercing him.

He self proclaimed King of Bijuus snapped his left hand towards Naruto's right hand, holding the blade down with him. His left hand was opened, facing Naruto's chest. It only took a second, but an incredible amount of red flames shot through at Naruto like a bullet. The flames connected with the blond's chest head on, sending him flying into the air.

When Naruto landed down the ground, the flames that had tried consuming him had already been dispersed by his wind armor, but he'd felt the unbearable heat though. That had been no doubt the second most intense flames that had ever hit him, second to the flames of Amaterasu. He looked at his chest, held it a little, even with the wind armor; there had been enough violence in the flames to burn him slightly, nothing too dangerous. Kyuubi was already healing him.

''You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent,'' Shinji's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. The black eyed opponent was in front of him, didn't look like he was going to attack, but a right swing for a punch was sent blindingly towards the blond, who ducked under the punch as he didn't want to be hit unnecessarily as it would lower his defenses.

As if he had been expecting Naruto to duck under the punch, Shinji tried kneeing the crouched blond with his left knee. The knee was going straight to Naruto's face. The blond blocked the attack by placing both his hands in front of him, effectively blocking the knee. With both his hands busy, Shinji didn't waste time to hit Naruto on the head with a chakra enhanced chop. He followed this by twisting around, and delivered a chakra enhanced kick on Naruto's right shoulder, sending the blond into the air.

While Naruto was still in the air, Shinji flashed just above him. Naruto was quick to react when the man went in for another chakra enhanced punch. He placed both his hands in a crossed position and Shinji's empowered punch hit him straight on the hands. The defense did nothing to stop the power of the punch to send him down the ground. Naruto's crash to the ground resulted in a boom, and a crater.

Shinji clasped both his hands together, ''Rain Spikes,'' he said. Small black balls formed around him, before forming into sharp, thin black chakra spikes. There were more than fifty of the spikes, and it took only a second for them to speed down at Naruto's position. The speed was anything but blinding; it wouldn't give anyone a chance to dodge. Acting like sharp blades wasn't exactly they did: he snapped his fingers and let rip of an explosion rocked off from Naruto's position. The explosion tore through the ground, lifting up large amounts of debris.

On the other side: the mushroom had risen with the explosion did nothing but raise Mei's concerned as she was sure Naruto was still within the explosion. If those spikes hadn't got him, then the explosion had to have. Worse case would be if both attacks got him.

When the debris finally cleared, Shinji saw Naruto standing in the middle of the crater, with hands held together. Bruises were visible all over his body, and one gash on his right shoulder was leaking out blood. But Shinji knew it was only a matter of time before the wound was closed by the Kyuubi as it wouldn't risk losing its host. He assumed that the blond was holding his hands together to gather natural chakra. The reserves had he may have been spent up on shielding himself from his earlier attack.

The self-proclaimed king of Bijuus took his time in landing down the ground. ''Don't you think my jutsu is better than your wind style execution?''

Naruto seemed to consider his options for a few moments before tilting his head a little. His narrowed eyes stared at Mei's group for a moment before going back to his opponent. He blinked once, revealing the Rinnegan and then disappeared.

For the first time since the battle begun, Shinji lost sight of Naruto and that really, really surprised him. The blond appeared in his sight again, in front of him dangerously close, just inches away from him. It seemed as if he had teleported there. However, according to his knowledge, when Naruto teleports, there's always a yellow flash, and if he teleported here, he had to have marked him. If he was marked, there was no way he could not have known.

The sound of chirping birds reached his ears as Naruto pierced through his chest with the Chidori. He almost found the idea of Naruto using the same jutsu that killed his pathetic girlfriend and nearly killed amusing. But it was nothing unexpected.

As Naruto removed his hand from Shinji's chest, he yanked the black haired right shoulder, causing their foreheads to collide. Naruto didn't waste time before delivering another Chidori, this time, straight at Shinji's cut. What followed then was a grip to the neck, and Shinji was slammed down the ground. Naruto stomped his right foot on Shinji's chest, without even looking, not even when the sound bones breaking reached his ears.

He pulled Shinji from the ground, lifting him up; clear cursed marks were visible on Shinji's body parts. Naruto gritted his teeth as his chest was ripped apart by something. Crimson blood started leaking when a weapon started to form from the blond's chest. The weapon was more like a twin cannon, and it didn't take a second for the weapon to laugh a yellow beam of energy straight at Shinji, hitting him dead on the chest, blowing a hole through it.

Naruto fell to his knees for a second as the weapon crumbled down. A second later, he was back on his knees, and rushed straight at Shinji, who miraculously, was still alive, despite a hole on his chest and lots of black liquid gushing out of his wounds as well as mouth. The black haired was on his knees though, breathing lightly labored.

When Naruto attempted to kick him on the face, he dodged by leaning back a little. He raised both his hands, facing Naruto, ''Flash Cannon!'' A black beam of energy hit straight at Naruto. The blast was of a huge magnitude and peeled off the ground while blasting the blond way from Shinji. That was just done so that he could recover.

Naruto landed a distance away from Shinji, body spotting burns, and blood leaking from his mouth. Bruises were all over his body. He cursed knowing that the defensive capabilities of his wind armor had been reduced to nothing. Senjutsu gave him enough protection, but he was using wind to avoid contact with Shinji's chakra as it was a bit harmful to his body and made it difficult for the wounds to be healed.

''I-it seems that I have underestimated you by quite a bit and overestimated my abilities. I only thought you would only be a danger when using the Kyuubi's power.'' Shinji stated casually, regenerating his wounds. Once that was done, he stretched himself a bit, and smiled. ''Shall we con-''

''Banshou Tenin,'' Naruto cut off the man as he wasn't in the mood waste words. The jutsu he activated start to pull Shinji into his waiting right hand. He'd decided to use the Rinnegan's power as it seems that the man would keep regenerating his wounds abnormally. It made him question whether if the man was even human to begin with. Those wounds could've killed any normal person.

Seeing that he was being dragged forcefully and knowing a little about the Rinnegan, Shinji opened his mouth. What normally takes Bijuus minutes to create, he did it in seconds - an alarming speed that even surprised Naruto: he formed his own ''tailed beast bomb'', albeit it was smaller, possibly given to the little time he had to pool out his power. ''Shinjimuda!''

And that went on to explode right in front of Naruto.

Boom!

The jutsu may have been small but it was still formed by all nine Bijuus chakra. The explosion couldn't have been more pleasing in Shinji's eyes. The explosion rocked through the ground, causing debris to lift up while gusts of wind that made the fireworks even exhilarating to Shinji's 'heart'.

Kisame and Ao had to hold back the Mizukage from jumping into the battlefield to check on Naruto. Not that both weren't worried.

When things cleared out, Shinji clasped his hands, praising Naruto. ''Remarkable!'' he chirped. ''I never thought you would escape without losing a hand or two,'' his condition wasn't that bad. There were just bruises, and cuts all over, but there were lots of blood gushing out. His breathing was visibly labored.

Shinji darted towards the blond. He didn't reach him though, as he was blasted away by a wordless Shinra tensei. He wasn't deterred though as it was exactly what he expected from Naruto in the condition he was in. He snapped his fingers, ''Chain of explosion!'' multiple small black balls formed around Naruto, dangerously close.

Even though Naruto knew this was dangerous, he refused to show any emotion. ''Use my power you fool!'' Kyuubi roared angrily. ''Those things will kill you!''

More fireworks occurred, and this time, the fireworks were superior to the last one. The ground shook as flames poured out in their glorious form. Powerful gusts of wind of tore through the ground forcing everyone to shield their eyes, except for Shinji, who was frowning. He was sensing more of Kyuubi's chakra from the explosion, there was no doubt about it. He'd thought that this would do it, but if Naruto used the Nine-tails chakra, it was another story.

''Oh well, the damage has already been made,'' he shrugged off his shoulders as he waited patiently for the flames to die down.

Before the flames could die down completely, an extremely vile chakra twisted the atmosphere around the battleground. When things died down, a miniature Kyuubi with four tails was standing still in the center of the crater formed by the explosion. The thing crumbled down though, revealing a burned Naruto, on his knees, coughing blood. His top was all but burned, so where his pants up until his knees.

'Pathetic human. You should be able to sense danger when you see it. Those things were just like small tailed beast bombs. They are no different from his Shinjimuda.' Kyuubi growled. 'If you use my chakra, you will be able to continue to fight, but only with Senjutsu. However, because of the damage your body has taken, you won't last long. Make every second count or I will take over your body...'

Naruto had never been in so much pain like this. But he was forced to swallow it as he summoned the last of his clones, containing natural chakra. With nature flowing through his body, he was able to breathe well enough. Wincing a bit, he summoned two tails worth of the Kyuubi's chakra before standing up. The chakra worked miraculously in conjunction with natural energy to heal his wounds, but the strain would eventually cause him to break soon enough.

Shinji frowned: it wasn't over. Admittedly, Naruto was faster than him, and now that he was using the Kyuubi's chakra, it would make this another story. He had also sustained some damage himself. The last blow was supposed to have done wonders, but it appeared not. He wasn't willing to use all his tricks, not here, and certainly not now.

Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow, appearing behind Shinji. The sword of the thunder God appeared on his right hand and he carved a line through the opponents back, drawing out black blood. He snapped his fingers, ''Wind Style: Execution!'' Shinji only turned around to face around 15 spears. Not a second later, all of them had already pierced through his body, leaving small holes around his body, specifically, around his joints.

With his joints ineffective, he fell down on his knees, and when he looked up to Naruto, he was already working up on his follow up Jutsu. ''Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!''

'Shit,' Shinji cursed, closing his eyes. He couldn't afford to be completely caught dead on with the jutsu. Boom! The jutsu exploded when it reached him, but he managed to shoot out of the explosion. He was armored though: ten tails were swinging out from his back, and his feet were no longer human. Both his hands were missing. It wasn't for a long time though, as he formed new ones, more like claws though.

Naruto appeared just behind him, but he was able to quickly twist around and four of his tails caught the blond. ''Hmm?'' Another Naruto appeared behind him. ''Kage Bunshin?'' The clone was the one he'd caught. He'd left himself open thinking the blond wouldn't use the clones since he never does when fighting.

''Wind Style: Execution blades!''

If there was ever a right time, this was the right time to curse.

It wasn't exactly blades that had formed beside Naruto: it was a number of swirling objects, just like a shuriken. The things were rotating as fast as the Rasenshuriken. If Shinji could say, he would say that the jutsu was like miniature Rasenshuriken were being thrown at him. Naruto held out his right hand, and just like the sister jutsu, the execution blades were upon him in half a second. Shinji brought out his tails, shielding himself with them.

Naruto's jutsu cut through the tails brutally, and quickly. They cut through his tails like a chainsaw. Large chunks of Shinji's tails fell down the ground. At least three of his tails remained while the rest were cut off. One Of the blades had even managed to cut through the right side of his chest, taking out a chunk of meat.

''Wind Style: Execution!'' This time, it wasn't ten spears, there were hundreds of them, and all of them shot at him without even allowing him to recover from the jutsu had had recently cut him. Shinji could bear with any kind of pain, but what he felt when hundreds of thin spears cut through his body wasn't like anything he'd experienced before. The spears pierced through like needles, didn't take much of his flesh, but left a visible hole inside his body.

The sight of a man full of holes inside his body wasn't something appealing to the eyes. Mei had to look away from that kind of sight, it was unbearable. She could almost see the other side through the man. By now she could confirm that Shinji wasn't human, or at least didn't need any vital organs for survival. If not, he shouldn't be still breathing and spitting out a mouthful of filthy black blood.

''My jutsu seems better,'' Naruto started, walking towards Shinji, who was down on the ground, well, what was left of him anyway. ''You're not human, are you? I guess killing you isn't going to be easy, but I can rip your soul of your body...'' though he talked like he was okay, he wasn't, another powerful hit, and he was done for it. He could barely hold the Kyuubi's chakra, and it weren't even two tails anymore, but only one.

When Naruto stopped in front of Shinji, the man full of holes, the man wiped the blood while most holes filled up, "You've lost your sage power."

"Yes, but it isn't required to kill you," The blond said, holding out his right hand. "You're immortal, you cannot survive if I remove your soul. I will do that in a few seconds, but first thing first: you're not immune to pain are you?"

End of Chapter


	30. Chapter 30

Just a warning before you go through the chapter: I wrote this using a Nokia E6 office, since I no longer have a pc. The Word I used doesn't do spelling checks, so you're bound to go through some typos, amongst other things. I tried making it readable just so I could post.

Chapter 30

The inner world that kept the prisoner locked, intrugued Naruto to end. The fact that a mountain tall beast could be stuffed inside a single human without its existence remaining visible but only a mark to show that it is indeed there was trully one of the greatest miracles the art of sealing produced. There was nothing that could make such fine artistry work. Some people still acted shocked at the realization that inside of him, there was such a plane, created by the seal in him.

This wasn't the time to wonder about the seals or even marvel at the greatness of fuinjutsu: behind those familliar bars was the Great Nine-tailed demon. The Bijuu wasn't actually a demon, but just a beast that was called a demon because of its great power. Everyone always had a name for something they didn't understand: unfortunately, his 'friend' and others of his kind were branded as demons.

As far as Naruto's logical mind took him, he had so far discovered that Kyuubi was nothing more than just a tittle. And a beast such as this one that possessed intelligence, far supperior to most humans, and knowledge that dates back to the founding of the shinobi world, had to have a name. The Bijuu wouldn't just tell him even when he asked, but it didn't bother him too much. There was still some mistrust between him and the Bijuu after all.

''Do you have a death wish or something?'' Kurama questioned, staring lazily at the blond fool standing just away from the cage that kept him locked up inside this detestable enviroment: his head was laying on his paws, while his eyes were half-opened, just so not to seem like he was giving the human all his attention.

Naruto cocked his head to the right as he proccessed a few thoughts. He walked into the cage - something that surprised Kyuubi but the Bijuu didn't say anything in that momement. ''You don't mind if I step inside your personal space, do you?'' He received no response, and so he went ahead to jump onto the Bijuu's head, and laid there on his back.

''Aren't you afraid I will take the opportunity to get you under my claws,'' and rip your body to shreds before freeing myself? The last words remained unsaid, but Kurama was sure Naruto would make them out without him needing to spell them out.

''Not at all,'' Naruto said lightly. ''I trust you enough to believe that you will stcick to the deal. Besides, regardless of how you look at it, you and I are partners, and you haven't actually been trying to take over my body since I met up with Itachi,'' despite the threats and everything.

The Bijuu snorted. ''I can't really do anything with all those security measures you put up and since I'm still locked up in here, destroying this 'you' won't do. However, possessing you will do: that is impossible with all the 'guards' though,'' even if he tried harming the blond, it wouldn't achieve much, so being as smart as he was, he wouldn't do anything, and Naruto had to know this.

''Those things can be removed anytime soon. You know well that they're only temporariry,'' Naruto said before adding. ''I think you and I have been partners long enough for me to understand bits about your character, and out of everyone else, no one knows me better than you: from the day I was formed in my mothers womb, you were there, you've been there when I was alone, watching silently, and you're still here.''

''I didn't have much of a choice,'' Kurama said. ''Would have chosen to kill you than be in you,'' oh wait, he did try to do that, but his second container and that loathable Yondaime stepped in the way.

Naruto didn't deny it, ''Yes, you didn't have any choice. Humans made the choice for you. They deprived you of your freedom, right to exist, and even I continue to deny you of your freedom as long as you remain in me,'' the Founding President of the UN stated. ''It is a bit unfair to you, isn't it?''

''What do you want, Naruto?'' Kurama really didn't want to get into a conversation of this nature with Naruto, especially now. Maybe some other time.

''Ah, you used my name,'' Naruto noted with a smile. Naturally, Kurama growled at the little slip, but the blond didn't make much of it. ''To answer your first question: no, I do not have a death wish. I've just lived a long life and I'm beginning to grow tired.''

''Long life? Even for a human you haven't lived long,'' though considering what the blond has experienced in his lifetime, it would be understandable if one said he has lived a long life, not that he was going to admit that anyway. ''Do you wish to die now that you have lived a long life?''

''No,'' Naruto slightly shook his head. ''I will die when my time comes. However, I wouldn't have much regrets if I died now. My disappearance was make or break for the UN. The occurence brought all the colors into the field, and tested the strength of the organizations foundation. I think that it will head into a good strong path after all these...''

''That is if it doesn't break in the next assembly. You haven't forgetten what that human informed you, haven't you? If things play out of hand, you may lose everything and your foolish dream may even be crushed.''

Naruto managed a smile despite the Kyuubi's words. ''It will not break, nor will my dream be crushed. The situation will be dealt with in a smart political way, and I will lead for the next four years before passing the mantle to someone else.''

''You sound confident...''

''Lack of confidence won't get me anywhere. For all my life, I've learned that you must fight for what you want, and you can never win any battle without confidence. I believe in myself, and those I trust to hold out things when I can't.''

''You're still tired,'' Kurama stated.

''Yes. I'm afraid the emotional strain of the life is catching up to me. I've had too much to take in and handle in a short period of time. Things have never been easy for me, I've always had to make a deposit of blood and sweat to the ground to earn something. Still, I believe that I can hold out for a few more years while correcting a few wrongs... I still have you after all...''

Kurama closed his eyes, ''As long as you don't do anything that may threaten my existence, I won't do anything. But make no mistake, human: the first person I kill will be you.''

''And I thought you and I were both victims of an unfortunate situation. None of us wanted this situation, but we were forced into it. Besides, it isn't like I want to keep you here. I understand that if I let you out, I die, and you'll just end up resealed again.'' Naruto paused for a moment, before contuining. ''We must change the mindset of leaders first before freeing you. If they still see you and your kind as nothing but weapons, nothing will change even if I free you,'' he was still looking for a way to live even after the extraction.

Kurama laughed openly, in disdain at the thought of humans changing their views. Naruto may be a little different, but the rest of them were the same. ''The more this illusion of peace becomes a reality for you, the more you become stupid and naive. Do you really think foolish humans like those in Konoha will change?''

Naruto got off the Kyuubi's head and stood infront of the Bijuu's head. ''Who knows?'' he said with a shrug of his shoulders. ''Interesting things you say, Kyuubi: you said you couldn't do anything even if you wanted to because of the security measures I put up, but when we were faced with Shinji, you said you would take over if I did something stupid, and a few moments ago, you stated that you wouldn't do anything as long as I don't do anything to threaten your existence. How can you say you will do something, and again say you can't? It would be understandable if you were saying you can do it but just don't want to.''

Kurama's left eye opened, but Naruto had already turned his back on him. ''Are you suggesting something?''

''I'm not conscious of everything that happens in here, but you know almost everything that occurs around me. I told you of the extra seals I added, but I never told you that I weakened the seal on my gut. Weakening the seal by removing the key only means that you only need to hit the bars with just one of your tails and it will open. However, you pretend that you don't know this because I never told you: the image you try to give me is that you still think that the extra seals still make it impossible for you to take over.'' Naruto placed his hands on the large gates. ''Let us make this blantly daring then and this is also a show of my trust.''

The gates of hell opened...

Kurama slowly stood up in a menacing form, tails swinging in violent fashion behind him. A toothy grin formed as he spoke, ''Your trust is misplaced.''

Naruto slowly turned around, showed the Kyuubi the look his younger used to possess, ''At least you know I am willing to trust you and have no disappear to stab you in the back.''

Kurama only wanted to see how Naruto would react, so he ''Pft,'' he response before settling down once more. ''Get out of my sight before I decide to snap your neck since there is nothing holding me back.''

Naruto gave a small bow, ''Hai hai, captain,'' he said.

Outside

Miyuki smiled when Naruto began to stir: he was finally going to wake up. It wasn't like he'd been out for a week because of the injuries or weariness that he had accumulated; yes, he was out for a week but that was only because Shizune had ensured that he stayed sleeping so that his body could completly heal and his mind would get the rest it so deserved. Knowing that he had been deep in work during his disappearance, it was recommended that he be asleep as everyone knew that he would be faced with a mountain by the time he wakes up.

The past week hadn't been easy for her either as she had to clear up some troubles caused by her foolish uncle. She was also in line to face many questions as people had been assuming that she was dead. Well, she was dead. Dead for real. Sasuke had killed her. Naruto had brought her back to life using some jutsu, and for the sake of avoiding many things, they'd decided to say that she didn't die but Naruto had only taken her away because he was afraid that Shinji may come back to finish her off.

It would have been a real trouble for Naruto if people knew that using the Rinnegans power, he could bring people from the dead and make them alive again. With his position, many would demand that he bring their loved ones back, and that would only upset the balance of things. Naruto had said he could live with bringing her back to life because he was going to kill Shinji and had already killed Sasuke. Still, he'd said he was going to return the eyes back to Konan as he would end up abusing the power if more of his loved ones die.

Shi creeped into the room like a shadow and stood just behind her - they were inside Naruto's bedroom in his house at Uzu. ''Should I go ahead to give the message that he is awake?''

''No,'' Miyuki shook her head slightly. ''Naruto will do that himself when he is able. For now, rest.''

''Are you sure, hime?''

''Yes. Naruto's spy network wasn't centered on your abilities from the beginning so it can manage without you. Besides, you've managed well enough and knowing too much got me killed once, I'd rather not go through that again,'' Miyuki said, feeling her chest as a gaping hole had been carved there by that arrogant Uchiha.

''As you wish,'' blending in with the darkness, Shi disappeared.

It took a few moments but Naruto finally regained full consciousness. He smiled upon seeing her face. ''Miyuki,'' a real smile danced joyfully as he took her form. ''I'm glad to see you by my side...''

Miyuki returned the smile, but she didn't say anything, not before she kissed him on his forehead. ''I happy you're finally awake,'' she whispered. ''I must take my leave now...''

Naruto gave her a confused look. He didn't understand why she would suddenly take a leave after he'd just woken up. They had a lot to talk about and some apologies to be made. He never had the time to do any of that after he brought her back to life becaue moe compelling issues needed to be dealt with. To voice his confusion, he mouthed one word, ''Why?''

''Naruto, I just wanted to thank you for bringing me back to life. Really, I am grateful for that. If it weren't for you, I would have died without realizing my dreams. So thank you.'' She offered the blond a sad smile.

''There is no need to thank me: I was the one who got you killed.'' Naruto argued, not wanting to be thanked when he was the reason she'd been killed in the first place.

Miyuki merely smiled, ''But you brought me back,'' she said, a bit strongly. ''You have a guest, Naruto, I shouldn't take too long.''

Again, with the desire to leave. Naruto tried taking her hand, but she avoided his. ''Why?'' He asked again.

''Naruto you cheated on me with not one woman, but two. I understand that you have problems, but trying to 'sleep' them away won't solve any of them. How do I know that you're not going to do it again when we have problems? If you'd come to me and said, ''Yuki, I want to marry Yugito and Mei to strengthen ties with their villages'' maybe I would have understood. Maybe. But you just went on to do what you did. So, I'm sorry Naruto, but I need time to think...''

She walked away from him, just like that.

Naruto couldn't force her to stay, he couldn't force her to talk to him. What he did was wrong, and the thing that made him guilty was that he didn't regret any of it. Yugito deserved someone who cared for her, her whole package: he couldn't think of anyone to offer her the happiness she derseves. It wasn't pity that led him to her: he liked her and she liked him. What was so wrong in that? He knew enough to understand that Miyuki would be pissed if he told her he didn't regret any of his actions.

At least his soul was soothed by the fact that she didn't hate him for getting her killed, for making her experience the pain one feels when the Chidori pierces through the chest. At that part, he was covered. But hurting her seems to have done it. They were back to were things where before everything that occured. She hated him for betraying her trust. Well, will you look at that, even the Peace Seeker can be swayed when it comes to women.

His women problems wasn't the only thing he didn't have figured out: Sasuke's betryal was another matter. The anger he felt when he tore through the Uchiha's body, part by part, and the relieve he felt when the Uchiha screamed, begging him to stop, playing the I can change part, made him admit that he needed help from someone mature and experienced.

A few moments later, Temari walked inside the room. Naruto tried putting on a smile but it crumbled. Yes, Miyuki had left him, and now his cherished masks were leaving him as well. what else was going to leave him?

Temari's brow arched when she saw the miserable expression on Naruto's face. She didn't mix any words when she spoke though, ''You look like shit,'' she said calmly, and took a seat at the chair that was set on the right side of his bed.

''That bad, huh?''

Temari nodded, ''Trouble in paradise?'' She had seen that Miyuki left in quite the hurry, but being that the older woman was her Daimyo, she didn't have the authority to question her in anything.

''You could say that,'' there was nothing to it other than trouble in paradise. The stress was making him sad because he didn't know how he was going to deal with it. How was he going to get Miyuki to talk to him? The smart choice was to allow the Daimyo to rest.

''No wonder you look that miserable. I am quite surprised though. You normally keep your masks on regardless of the issues surrounding you,'' she was told that he even kept that impassive mask during the battle with Shinji. So was this really troublesome for him that he couldn't keep his masks?

''Ever since I was young, I ever since I started running through Konoha's streets, I was forced to wear a mask. Even after I returned from my ''training trip'' I was still forced to continiously wear the mask. With everything around me, it is getting rather hard to put them on. Besides, I'm getting tired of putting them on. I've worn them long enough,'' Naruto said.

Temari was silent for a few moments before spoke. Naruto was sometimes ruthlessly blant on his assessments and on his speech, yet, he kept masks on his expression. He was always hiding something behind the mask. What she could see now was pain, pain that he'd kept hidden for far too long. Well, everyone had a limit. You couldn't keep things hidden for far too long. No matter how good Naruto was with controlling his emotions, he couldn't keep them locked, eventually, the bottle would fail to contain them and everything would be exposed in a bang.

For the blonde Jonin from Sunagakure, this represtated a good chance to knowing the man had brother had so said, ''if things continue as they are with Shikamaru, I don't think of anyone who could treat you better than him.'' He'd even set her up to be married by this person. He was an ass as far as Temari could tell, well, given by his attitude sometimes. But inside, she had a feeling that he was a good person.

''I assume that you always kept your masks on, and didn't have much time to rest them.'' Considering how he was even amongst friends, that was no surprise. ''Your lifestyle was just dangerous, emotionally. If you're going to keep your masks even in your sleep then, you never get the time to reflect on your emotions.''

''It happened to be like that,'' Naruto sighed, burrying his head deep into the pillow his head rested. ''Not that I dislike you anything, but I'm surprised that you're the second person I see after waking up. We're not that close, and I've been somewhat of an asshole towards you.''

''Ah, he admits it,'' Temari said dryly. She sighed as well: it wasn't the time for this. ''I've been leading things in your village. You know, though you have rebuild everything, the work is not yet complete. Someone had to watch over things in this village. Uzushigakure isn't the kind of village you'd want to leave without a leader for too long.''

Uzu was still fresh from being rebuilt, and it was consntly buzzling with toursist ever since Naruto opened the gates for people to enter. Aside from that, some people where being brought in here by Naruto's people. These people needed to be assigned places to stay, ensure that they were given work to do so that they can earn their living. The village also needed a leader so that it doesn't fall into a sneak attack. Who knew if someone was planning to destroy the village?

The most powerful organization in the Elemental Nations was also Head Qaurtered inside the Whirlpools. There was also a library that contained seals that had the village destroyed in the first place and a lot more history about the Elemental Nations. The academy that was now being called the first grade academy was situated inside the village: there didn't seem to be an academy anywehere in the Elemental Nations that trained young ones in the same level as the one Naruto founded.

Naruto was surprised that Temari of all people would be acting as leader of his village in his absense. He'd left Kakashi behind just so that he could watch over his village in case things like this happened. Given their past interactions, he had assumed she wouldn't bother. ''What happened to Kakashi?''

''He is busy with the Police Force,'' Temari said before adding. ''Your disappearance not only sparked vultures to arrise within the UN but it also brought rise to a rebelious streak from bandits. Given the shortage of shinobi in the forces, he didn't have time to remain inside the village.''

''I see,'' Naruto said in thought. He'd thought by now the shortage of Shinobi would have been covered given that he'd made all preparations for the shinobi to be supplied before he had disappeared. ''Didn't Kumogakure send some men to join the forces?''

''They did, about one hundred. But it took a while to get them working because of resistance from other nations since Kumo wasn't a member of the UN. Once we got them tasked, they were spread all over the nations. Mind you, the UN doesn't just cover the Elemental Nations only.''

He had expected nations to resist Kumo's shinobi because the village wasn't a member of the UN, but it was within the law for a willing village to offer its shinobi for the services of the UN. Though, it would require some payment made for the services. He'd already held discussions with A to cover that up though and he believed that Gaara would be able to settle things and induct the shinobi into the Police Force.

''In its founding, I didn't consider the fact that the UN would be able to reach other lands outside of the Elemental Nations. That is why I only planned on having the Police Force operate in the shinobi world only. But we have other nations who are part of the UNA, and that can't be ignored,'' Naruto said.

Temari nodded. ''It isn't a surprise to me that other nations are joining in as well. The UN provides something that everyone desires: security. Smaller nations have found someone to defend them. They don't even have to pay millions for the UN to be constatly watching over their villages. I wouldn't be surprised if kings from other lands came here to join in the party.''

''It wouldn't be so bad if they came, well, that is if they come in with their money,'' Naruto said.

''Ah, Gaara tells me that the UN is going to run into financial strains by the end of the year if things don't change. You used a lot of money to rebuild Uzu, and offices of the UN around the nations. That is not to mention that you've got a huge wage bill every month for the Police Force.''

A lot of the funds used by the UN was coming from his pocket, and since he wasn't a billionare, it made things a little harder for him. He could manage Uzu well because of the businesses he'd created for it. The business was neccesary as his people needed work to get cash injections so that they can fund their needs. If the villagers had money, then other villagers could open their own shops too for the villagers to buy. Then there would be a flow of clash.

Smaller villages weren't helping the issue because of their refusal to follow through the basic rule of the alliance they joined. Everyone is seen as equal before the UN, yet the continue to use their ''small'' to say that they can't give any money or their forces to the UN because it would only weaken them, while the stronger villages remain strong because sacrificing a few hundreds for the UN didn't do much as they had hundreds.

''I will have to get shinobi villages to supply us with the funds to pay for the shinobi they offer us and I will have to straighten the villages who refuse to follow through on our agreement,'' Naruto added. No one was forced to the agreement - they did it on their free will, but he would force them to follow through the agreement. The time to treat them like infants was over.

''That will be good.''

''Who came up with the idea of having you here anyway? And why You of all people?''

''Gaara is President of the UN and a Kage; Kakashi commands the Police Force, which is spread all over the Nations, not just in one village; Konan has Ame and Mei has Kirigakure. I was the only one left who was capable of handling the pressure.''

''And?''

''Nothing ever gets past you, does it?''

''Some things do get past me, Temari. Some things have occured right before my eyes and I've failed to notice,'' Naruto said smiling sadly.

Though curious, Temari didn't question anything. ''You are aware that Gaara wanted us to get into a political marriege, right? Well, though he says political, he really means a real marriege. According to him, no one can treat me better than you. He even made me live in this house after you were released from the hospital.''

Naruto smiled before speaking in a light tone. ''I don't know anything about making you do anything: you wouldn't have come here unless you wanted to. You're that strong, and I admire that courage in you.''

''Are you hitting on me?''

Naruto laughed. ''No, lest I wish to be smacked in the head by the cold steel of your fan.'' He paused for a moment before asking, ''Where was Miyuki when you were here?'' He'd assumed that she would be the one to be living in his house during his time unconcious.

''Wind country, trying to regain control over her country. Her uncle didn't want to give it back, so she had to wrestle for it. Apparently, acccording to her, he's been scheming to gain control over the country before she was even made Daimyo. Her disappearance brought in a good chance for her to flush out all who sided with him.''

''I see,'' Naruto became thoughtful for a few seconds. ''So what was your reaction when you were told by your beloved brother that he prefers me as your suitor?''

Temari wanted to indulge him given his mental health, but as long as she indulged him, he would avoid the main subject that was making him miserable. However, if she chose the other matter, it would require her to sit through his problems, and she wasn't that personal with him to get down with him. But then again, if she doesn't talk to him, who will? Tsunade had come here once, his friends were still around, and Jiraiya popped in everynow and then. She wouldn't be surprised if he budged in now.

''I wasn't smiling if that is what you're asking,'' Temari said. ''Who does he think he is? Sometimes Gaara treats me like a little child. I'm older than him and know what is best for me and him, not the other way around,'' she didn't want to say it like that but it came out that way.

''He means well. When you're as carring as much as Gaara, you always think for others, but sometimes you go far. Bear with him, he is your brother after all. If I had a sister, I would be as protective as Gaara is,'' Naruto said. He closed his left eye and added with a smile. ''You don't need much protection though. You're strong on your own, and you're not the one to be fooled easily.''

''I keep telling him that, but he doesn't understand,'' Temari said a bit strongly. It was obvious to Naruto that it frustrated her to end that Gaara always thought she needed to be protected when she capaable of protecting herself.

This is what it meant to have a family. A part of him wanted to have that, and he wanted a big family. Perhaps it was why didn't regret the things he did with Yugito and Mei, and had been very protective of Koyuki. Still, it was sweet how the Subaku family has grown. A few years ago, Gaara was the one threatening to kill them, and now the man who refused to spill any blood would probably go on a rampage if someone harmed his beloved sister.

''Does this amuse you?''

Naruto hadn't realized his amusement was showing, ''No, I'm just thinking of how things have changed. You and your siblings have grown well since I met you during the Chunin exams a few years ago. I think it is rather sweet that Gaara cares for you as much as he does given his past self.''

Temari wouldn't deny that it was something kind, but that didn't mean that it didn't annoy her since her brother overdid it. ''We've only matured. The one who has changed more than ayone is you. Back then, you were a happy brat who was always smiling, but now, you're miserable.''

''I am 'that' miserable?''

''Yes,'' Temari said. She paused for a moment and asked a bit lowly. ''What happened to you, Naruto? I didn't know much about you back then, but even I can tell that you changed drastically,'' she had bit her lip because she nearly said that he had turned out like Sasuke.

Naruto smiled sadly. ''I was lied to by almost everyone from birth, and I was betrayed. Someone unexpected was kind enough to tell me everything. But even he had his motive for telling me the truth. You know, one day everything is well, and the next you realize you've been living a lie. The world can be cruel sometimes, and if you're not careful, it will play you like a fool and chew until there is nothing left.''

Temari didn't understand what exactly it was that he was talking about. She did know that a lot was kept from him by Konoha. There was undoubtebly more to the mystry. her brother would know some things, and he would surely know what to say at this time: she didn't, and could only say, ''So, what now?''

Naruto held out his hand for Temari to take it. The blonde kunoichi hesitated for a few seconds but she eventually relented and helped up from the bed. ''I will try to correct a few wrongs, sort out my issues, and live my life the way I want. Not in the way that is just to please someone else.''

Kumogakure

''I can't believe this! That man has refused to allow me to go for the fifth time, even after everything that he did,'' Yugito shouted in frustrations at the fact that A didn't want her to leave the village for Uzu. The man had been firm in his refusal and there was no one she could go to about this.

When she'd heard that Naruto had returned and was resting inside his house after battling Shinji, she had requested that she be allowed to leave just so she could be by his side, but the Raikage had said no. He'd given her a firm no and told her that there would be consequences if she disobeyed his orders. It was down right frustrating as he refused to give her a reason for his refusal and at the same time confusing since he'd jumped at the opportunity to help in the search for the blond when he was missing, but now that he had returned, he wouldn't allow her to go see him.

The report that came said that the blond was fine, but was put in an uncocnious state just so that he could rest. Yugito wanted to be by his side when he was resting, and take care of him, but A had said no.

''Calm down, Yugito,'' Samui said a bit calmly. ''A-sama is a reasonable man. Even though he refuses to give you a reason, try to understand some things about the situation you're in.''

Yugito twisted around, stopping her march and stared at Samui, who was sitting on the edge of her bed. ''What situation?'' She really hoped that she didn't say anything about her Jinchuriki status because she was growing tired of it. Couldn't she do something or just be seen without the Bijuu in her gut taking part in the conversation or decisions being made?

Samui sighed, and patted the bed on her right side, motioning for Yuguto to sit down. ''Naruto isn't just your special friend, Yugito: he is a leader of a village and president of the UN. In fact, we shouldn't even be calling him just Naruto, but Naruto-sama due to the tittles and positions he holds. He has friends, and a giirlfriend, the Wind Daimyo. If you were to go there now, you would only cause troubles, especially when not everyone knows your relationship with Naruto.''

''What kind of trouble would I cause? It isn't like I am going to start a fight with that woman,'' Yugito said. She just wanted to see Naruto and that was all. She didn't want to cause any troubles nor would she seek any.

''You know that Kumogakure isn't a member of UN, but just a friend of Naruto. Our forces are within the UN, and this was done after a great debate. If it wasn't for the Kazekage, our forces wouldn't have been even inducted in the UN's Police Forces. People were starting to say that the only reason A-sama agreed to feed them the shinobi was because he wanted to spy on the UN. You're a Jinchuriki, one of the strongest Jonin in Kumogakure, your presence in Uzu will only generate more issues.''

''I still don't understand.''

Samui sighed once again. ''I didn't want to say this, but I'm forced to reveal it since you won't understand. You're really such a drag, Yugito,'' she said. ''There is trouble in the UN: Naruto is president of the UN, Chair of its Executive council, and supreme Council. Aside from that, he is a former Konoha shinobi, friends with the Kazekage, Mizukage, and now the Raikage. He has two more Jinchuriki who are said to be friends with him, and he himself is a Jinchuriki of the Nine-tails, the strongest Bijuu, do you know what that means, Yugito?''

''He is connected..?''

''Ah, you can be stupid sometimes,'' Samui said blantly. ''But you're not too far off. Naruto is connected, and just too powerful. Politically, he is a powerhouse and is able to play in the same field with Kages. Mind you? He also leads his own village. Naruto basically holds the UN together: he is the UN. Unseating him in the next years will become near impossible. He has the potential to become the most powerful man in the Elemental Nations, politically.''

The Raikage has also said that Naruto revells in the political battle. There wasn't a table he wasn't fit to deal. So if it was really like that, then he would only grow influetial over most things.

Yugito was silent for a few moments as she absored everything. ''So, adding another Jinchuriki to his friend list will only make matters worse and I may earn myself some enemies,'' she said in thought. ''What is really going on in the UN? And how do you know this?''

''Jiraiya-sama was telling A-sama the other day,'' Samui said. ''People are afraid of Naruto's growing power and influence. Naturally, they start scheming when they are afraid.''

''I see,'' Yugito said. ''Still, I really wish that we cou...'' At that moment, Naruto appeared in the middle of the room, where the mark was, in a flash of yellow.

''Hel-''

He never got to finish was Yugito was already upon him. ''Naruto!'' she litterally jumped on him and started kissing him, while hanging her hands over his shoulders. Naruto did as much as he could to ensure that she didn't fall, and he was balanced. ''I missed you.''

''Me too...''

''Ahem,'' Samui cleared her throat, breaking the moment. ''If you're going to do it in front of me, you may as well let me join in on the fun.'' Naruro gave her a look in response. ''I'm just kidding,'' she said. ''You owe me dinner for looking after her,'' she said to Naruto before walking out of the room.

''So, you're okay,'' Yugito said pulling Naruto to the bed. Both laid on their backs, with Yugito's head rested on Naruto's left shoulder. ''I was so worried about you, but couldn't come to see you because A-sama wouldn't let me leave.''

''I was alright, Yugito,'' Naruto said. ''They just gave me something really, really strong to keep me unconscious so that I could rest more.'' They were definately worried that he would bury himself to more work once he recovers and cause himself more problems.

''At least you're okay, and back in one piece. I wouldn't have forgiven you if somerhing had happened to you,'' not after she just found some happiness with him. It would have been cruel to have him snatched away from her after she just got him.

''I'm sorry for making you worry, Yugito,'' Naruto said softly.

''I should be punching you for disappearing like that, but I don't want to. Will you at least tell me why you disappeared without a word?''

Naruto was silent for a few moments as he mulled over how to go with this one. Smiling sadly, he started speaking, ''I wouldn't complain if you punched me, or even if you transform and squash me under your paws.''

''Careful for what you say mr, I might just go ahead and do that...''

''Will you at least me explain before you do that?'' Some amusement was evident in his tone. Yugito nodded, letting him explain. ''I had things to sort out. My mind was really jungled up and I wanted to clear it before facing people. But I couldn't do that with Shinji still alive. When I was gone, I was searching for him, and of course, recovering from mutilating Sasuke.''

Yugito didn't ask for more details, not at this time anyway. They still had more time. ''What of that woman?''

''Miyuki, you mean?'' Naruto said. ''I was really broken over her. My heart was completly shattered, had it not been for someone's loving intervenation, I would have lost it and probably freed the Kyuubi while at it.''

''I get the feeling that she wasn't okay when you found her,'' Yugito said, eyes narrowed a bit. If he had been broken, then he couldn't have found her kicking pretty well. She didn't know the fully story, but if he had nearly lost it, then he had to have found her pretty banged up.

''She was dead when I found her,'' Naruto revealed. ''I told you of the eyes I got from Konan, right? One of the abilities of those eyes is that I can bring people from the dead. You see, as a wielder of these eyes, I exist between life and death. With the ability, I brought her to life.''

For someone like Yugito who was familiar with the story of the Sage of Six Paths, it wasn't hard to believe that the Rinnegan granted him such power. Kumo had even made it their priority in collecting tools of the Sage, ''You must love her really much to be able to do something like that for her. Would you do the same for me if I was killed?''

''I didn't bring her back because of love: simply, I couldn't live with myself knowing that she was killed because of me,'' Naruto said, before bringing Yugito more closer to him. ''You my dear, have experienced so much in life, just like me, I wouldn't even let you be killed. Not as long as I live: that I promise.''

Yugito merely smiled warmly and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the warmth Naruto's body gave her. A few moments of comfortable silence passed by before she spoke, ''What is this, Naruto? I mean, us, what are we?''

''Sleeping with you may cost me my relationship with Miyuki, but you know what? There's never been a second where I said to myself, 'I shouldn't have done it.' I don't regret sleeping with you, Yugito. The moments with you have been sweet, pleasant and loving, and some have been pure bliss. Why would I regret all of that? Perhaps we are able to satisfy each other in bed because we're both Jinchurikis, but its not just the sex that is satisfying. You and I have so much to talk about, we're able to connect easily, I can feel your pain and you can feel mine.'' Naruto paused for a moment before adding. ''We can be boyfriend and girlfrind, lovers, husband and wife, whatever makes you happy.''

Yugito wanted to stand up and dance, but she only broadened her smile and searched for Naruto's hands. ''What of Miyuki then, and Mei?''

Naruto frowned slightly. ''Miyuki left me after I woke up and said she needed time to think, and I haven't spoken to Mei. I understand it may be otherwise that things may be going south with Miyuki and I show up here to make things right.''

Yugito shook her head slightly. ''It is understandable. Things have been going south for months now. You couldn't have expected things to be miraculously patched because of recent events. Even when she left today, it shouldn't have been a shock because she'd already told you that.''

''Things have been falling apart for a while now, and while I was out, I had time to think. Regardless of what Miyuki would've said, I would have still come here after I woke up. Just because that part of mylife isn't well doesn't mean everything else must stop. Other things must go well, for me not to be miserable.''

Raikage Tower, about an hour later

The moment Naruto stepped into the office of the Raikage, he was forced to block at punch that was aimed straight at his head by the Raikage. He wasn't that surprised to get this kind of greeting from the man. Anything less would have been a disappoitment and he wouldn't be far off the mark if he worried that something may be wrong.

''Your reflexes are still sharp,'' which was good, A said before shaking Naruto's hand. He went back to his seat and sat comfortably, while keeping his eyes on the blond before him.

''I was only out of comission for a week. It will take years for them to dull,'' the Leader of the Village Hidden in Whirlpools stated, taking a seat. ''You look lively, as always, Raikage-sama.''

''You don't look like you just got out of a week long sleep,'' A said smiling. ''You left quite the mess when you disappeared. I had to pull all strings to avoid being dragged into pointless war of words.''

''It couldn't be helped. The decision to disappear was a split second choice, but it has brought out some good results,'' Naruto said in a calm tone. ''But it is a good thing that we're no longer forced to take battles in the battlefield, but things mean more politically these days. The ones with the bigger weapons used to have all the say, but now the scales have changed.''

''Potical battles do represent a problem though...''

''Yes,'' Naruto was aware of it. ''Under the table deals will be made, and some leaders may be at risk of assasination because of their political power. However, I formed the Covert Corps with this kind of things in mind. The Police Force are the to impose the law. This incident has only made it easir for me to know who I must be weary of and what steps to take.''

''You sound like you have everything planned out.''

Naruto smiled, ''I do have things planned out. Before my misery or happiness, I chose to ensure that the UN survives, and I wouldn't do anything to sabotage its existence,'' he said. ''Thank you for everything A. I don't know if Kakashi would've been able to handle things without your assistance, and it would've surely made things hard on Gaara.''

A waved his hand dismissively, ''Handing over those men to your control won me a one or two 'customers'. You'd be surprised to know that a little good deed gets you into the good books of other people.''

''I'm glad things worked out well for you,'' It wasn't a surprise. The Police Force were already heroes in some parts of the land. They appeared wherever there was trouble and freed the oppressed, they've rescued hundreds of women and children from bandit camps, slavery, and are now seen as protectors of the weak, as well as defenders of justice.

Adding, Naruto continued speaking. ''I will return again with documents to finalize the treaty between Kumo and Whirlpools - we were never able to finish it before the unexpected happened.''

''I'll be waiting for you then...''

''Will it be alright if Yugito visits me sometimes?''

''No,'' A said firmly. ''Not until you clean up your mess. I will not allow Yugito to be dragged into the UN's petty fights.''

''Well, I guess I better hit the road to hurry up with the cleaning...'' Naruto said before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

Amegakure

''I didn't think that you'd be returning to work soon after just waking up,'' Konan said as Naruto walked into her office. It wasn't even a full day since he woke up and he was already going around doing business. Shizune was right when she recommanded that he be put out or he won't get much rest.

This was his second stop since morning, but it was also going to be his last before he returns to the Whirpools. He could see Mei on another day. Besides, the woman was probably busy with her own work. She was after all a Kage. ''There is much work to be done. Besides, if I continue to relax, more trouble may just spring into the fray.''

Konan nodded, and motioned for him to take a seat. The UN was indeed in a critical moment, and it really needed to be worked on before things got out of hand. Her own position in the the organization was also being threatened by some fools, and that was at least worrying. Still, it wasn't anything that Naruto had not enountered. Like he had said, ''nothing really remains hidden forever, Konan. It may be centuries, or decades, but everything kept hidden will eventually come to light. That is why it is always to put on a contigency plan.''

She assumed that he also had a plan on how he was going to deal with things should his relationship with Itachi be brought out to public. The Uchiha was a recognized International S-rank criminal wanted for massacrering his entire clan. Though, she and Nagato always assumed there was more to the story. If Naruto had a plan to get out of it unscathed should it be brought to public, then there was definately more to the story.

''Gaara was handling things rather well, though,'' so he could've afforded to rest a bit. Was it like how things were with Yahiko and Nagato? The two never rested during the Akatsuki's founding days, and she always had to be the one to nag them to bed while looking after them. Perhaps the difference was that Naruto had people to look after him and Nagato only had her.

''Yes, he was,'' Naruto said with a small nod. ''Shi informed of what is already happening a few weeks ago when he caught up to me. I didn't send a message because things were playing it a good and controllable pace. Besides, Gaara was doing a good job ensuring that no one spirraled out of control.''

''Where is he? Shi, I mean.''

Naruto shook his head. ''I haven't spoken to him since I woke up nor have I been able to catch a wind of him.'' He didn't look too concerned though. ''Anything troubling you aside from the looming danger of secrets being revealed?''

''No,'' Konan said. ''I'm not young like Gaara and certainly pose a more impossing figure than the Kazekage. I've held Amegakure well enough. Surely, they would think twice before matching over to me.''

''I'm glad you got no problems. I wouldn't want Ame's peace to be disturbed by the very body that is supposed to maintain and protect it,'' Naruto said smiling. ''We'll discuss how I will deal with your issue with the others after I've gathered them. Besides, I need to work on restructuring the UN and sumbit the proposals to the Executive Committee.''

''More restructuring?''

''Yes. The current structure is making a lot of waves, why not create something that will shut people up. Right now, they have ''legimate'' reasons to complain, but when the new structure is approved, they won't have any reason to complain,'' Naruto said standing up. ''I didn't exactly come here for much work. I had another purpose in mind...''

Konan arched a curious brow at this statement, ''What?''

Naruto went over to Konan and scooped her from her chair. Remakebly, the woman only looked at him with a questionable expression. The blond merely smiled though. ''Nagato is gone, you have no one. While I was with Yugito earlier, I realized something I failed to do: notice your loneliness. I have been there, and I know it isn't pretty, so Konan, what do you say to becoming my real friend?''

Konan honestly didn't know what to say. That actually came out of nowhere, and she didn't how she was going to respond? How could she? She'd never had such an offer before in all her life. There have always been two people in her life, Yahiko and Nagato. But now Naruto was trying to sneak his way into her cold exterior. Why? True, she didn't have anyone. Even the cold walls of her tower often glared at her miserable situation, but she was used to it. She couldn't complain. What would it accomplish? She was just toughing it out and live her dream.

''I'm not taking no for an answer, dear.'' Naruto said smiling warmly. ''Come one, let us go somewhere and to something. I have some time before I meet up with my friends later on. I would invite you to come over, but I'm sure you don't want to be stuck making conversations with immature brats.''

''Where are you taking me and what are we going to do exactly?'' Konan asked, as the blond was already dragging her away.

Naruto suddenly stopped and turned to face her, ''I know just the place to relax you,'' he said before both disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Sunagakure

Gaara's work was put on a halt when his receptionist informed him that he had a guest. He wasn't expecting anyone on the day nor did he have any appoitments for the next day, but he wasn't the type of person to turn people down when they wanted to see him. It was one thing that brought him trouble with Temari as he was willing to put his paperwork on hold and listen to his people.

The Sand Kage wasn't a pervet nor did he have time to sit around while brainstorming lecherous thoughts. He didn't even have time for women. The relationship he had with his siblings was satisfying, not to say that he didn't think that would have to marry one of these days. Naruto was already way up there. If the gorgeous Miyuki wasn't enough, he had to go after the delightful Mizukage. Though, Gaara actually thought things may have been the other way around with the latter given her behavior.

To add to that, Naruto may have also had something with Princess Koyuki, a woman desired by so many men. It was only a pity that Naruto enjoyed her presence, and liked her very much, but wasn't that much interested in having a relationship with her. Naturally, that upset the woman. If Gaara was to be correct, she was the first woman Naruto slept with and it sort of pisses her off that he won't do it again. According to her words, ''Oh, you took your shit on me a couple of times during your stay in MY bed and may have even knocked me up and now you can't even touch me?!''

It had been almost amusing to watch Naruto so hopeless and speechless. The poor blond didn't even know how to respond. Come to think of it, Gaara hadn't seen Koyuki since the General assembly last year. It seems like she had disappeared off the grid... Jiraiya had said Naruto wouldn't risk going to her during his disapperarance, that meant she was still in contact with him.

''Kazekage-sama.''

Oh, right. He had drifted off to another world. The person who'd walked in the office was a tall, slender black haired woman: her hair was long, sliding over her back, with a lone bang framing the right side of her face. She wasn't wearing any lipstick; her skin almost crossed the line of pale and her eyes were clear blue. She was wearing a traditional white kimono, with a lone diomond jewel on her neck. The Kimono was parted at her right hip, revealing the smooth slightly pale skin.

Now, as he had began: Gaara wasn't a pervert. When it came to woman, he had exceptional control. That is an arear Naruto failed. He was good with controlling a lot of his emotions, but sometimes when it involved woman, he legged behind.

So, even when Subaku no Gaara was faced with a dazzling young woman in front of him, he didn't blush nor even think anything indicent. The Kazekage kept his mind pure and only stared at her, unblinking. In fact, the only ''outrageous'' reaction he gave to her provacative beauty was a double raise of his brows. But that didn't mean the Kazekage didn't feel a drop of blood rushing over to the head: he was just quick to clamp it down.

''I'm sorry to walk in like this, but...'' the woman trailled off when she noticed that the Kazekage kept a blank look while staring at her. He wasn't ogling her. He was just looking at her like she was some sort of a curious creature he hadn't come across before. ''Kazekage-sama,'' she called again.

Gaara's brows fell simultaneously in dramatic fashion. The princess nearly laughed at how amusing it was, but she held her manners. Gaara cleared his throat, as he stood up. ''I'm sorry for spacing out: I'm not used to having such guests in my office,'' he said giving the woman his hand. She took it and shook it. Admittedly, her hand was rather soft and warm, but the Kage was quick to return to his seat.

''It's okay,'' the princess said. ''I'm Princess Mikoto. My father is the king of Hakuba.'' Mikito introduced herseft to the Kazekage in a light tone, her tone becoming a bit melodious as she went on. ''I understand that you're the acting President of the United Nations, despite Naruto's return.''

The casual way in which she mentioned Naruto's name made Gaara curious. The blond may be familiar to a lot of people, but he wasn't oftenly called just Naruto these days, well, except to those who were closer or just overly familiar with him. ''Yes, I am.''

''Two months ago when the Peace Seeker was patrolling around the O'uzu Island as a member of the UN's Police Force, he came across our nation, and at that time there was a political battle between my father and the Prime Minister. The latter was attempting to asurp my father for his own greed. You see, our nation is small, but vastly rich and the royal family controls almost all the wealth...''

As she went on with her story, Gaara learned that Naruto stopped a civil war from occuring in the nation. Mikoto didn't explain how Naruto had gotten the Prime Minister to back down, but apparently, he did it after meeting the man alone. Even though it wasn't his business to intervene, he did it anyway. Simply because he was the ''Peace Seeker.''

''A civil war would have torn our nation apart and left us with nothing as neighbouring nations were eager to get involved. Although he couldn't operate as a member of the Police Force since he was out of juristiction, he was still able to act as a mediator. I don't even know how he convinced my stubborn father to allow him to mediate. Anyway, my father was so impressed with Naruto that he offered me to him when he learned of who exactly the Peace Seeker was and the kind of power he held.''

Gaara frowned slightly, it was barely noticeable. It was possible for Naruto to spend two weeks at Mikoto's nation. The blond had hundreds of clones patrolling around the Elemental Nations during the time he was helping out with the Police Force. But that was not why he frowned. ''By your presence here, I presume he turned your father down.''

''Not exactly,'' Mikoto said with a small smile. ''If I really wanted, Naruto would be my husband by now. That man can't exactly say no when a poor lonely woman really, really offers herself to him. He isn't a pervet though: his problem is that he may have suffered from loneliness and being unloved when he was younger.''

Gaara was silent for a few moments as he mulled over what Mikoto had said. ''So the flaw Naruto has is that he knows the pain of being rejected as he went through it for almost his entire childhood: given the kind of person he is, if you show him that you really want him, he won't reject you because he wouldn't want to have someone else experience what he went through, espceially if it is gone be him doing the rejecting.''

And yet he was rejecting Koyuki. Obviously, there was more to that.

''The sad part is that the man will go his way to make you happy even when the situation is forced,'' Mikoto said.

Gaara nodded: that would just be like Naruto. If people said Naruto could control his emotions, they were wrong: he couldn't. He just knew how to mask them. He was rather good at masking them - there, Gaara would give him a hand. ''What was his alternative idea..?''

If he was rejecting someone, he had to put on an idea if she really wanted a man. Well, at least that somewhat made up for his flaw.

''This is what he said to me, and he was very blant: ''Your nation is rich, and where you go, your father will also send his riches. I have more than enough, and if I take you, things will change for me. I have a brother, he doesn't have much and definately needs a woman. You're pleasant, and as a brother I would approve of you. Go to Suna, speak to the Kazekage. I'm sure if even if Gaara is a homo he will find you irrisIstable, just as I.''

''He said that...'' So this is what it felt like to be set up.

''I'm told that, just like Naruto, you care not for fame riches and glory, and despite your past, you're rather kind. So I will be blant, do you find me irreistable, Gaara?''

''...''

Mikoto giggled the the weird look on Gaara's face. ''Don't answer that,'' she said. ''My father is an impatient man, and it won't be long before he decides to ship me off to some rich old fart who will only be after my body. When I saw the kind of person Naruto was I was happy, knowing that I have finally found someone who would help me out. At least with him, I was sure I could live a normal life and wouldn't be forced to sleep with him if I didn't want to.''

Gaara cursed Naruto at this point. The blond may have played this woman and acted like he couldn't deny her if she offering herself to him because he knew her situation. Obviously, if she had told the blond this, he would have chosen to marry her if there wasn't any choice. It may not have been a coincident that the blond happened to be aroud her nation when there were troubles - this may have been planned.

No, given how sneaky Naruto was in his deals, this was planned.

His reasons to try to get Naruto married to his sister were both personally and politically charged. Naruto's reasons were also personal on the bases that he couldn't stand to watch an innocent woman suffer when he could do something about it; political as well because Suna would gain an ally who would help financially, and so will the UN. In the eyes of other nations, it won't be Naruto who brought in another ally, but him.

Gaara leaned to his chair before sighing - something he rarely did. ''Are you in a hurry to return home?''

''Heavens no. I wouldn't mind if I didn't return to my father at all.''

'What kind of a father did she have?' Gaara wondered. ''Then you won't mind staying here while I process things, and I will need to speak to Naruto before making a choice...''

''When is he going to come here anyway? I haven't seem that impassive mask of his since he left my home...''

''I don't know, but I head to the Whirlpools in a day or two to offically handover the presidancy back to Naruto. You can accompony me if you like...''

Mikoto smiled. ''That'd be wonderful.''

Later that day, Whirlpools

The days of harmony were a real shortage in his life, and yet they were in great demand and joy was found in all parts of the world, just as shadows existed everywhere. The world wasn't completly dark and gloony, swallowed up in shackles of pain and tears that knew no end. Even in the cursed shinobi world, beauty as well as reall joy existed in such a world, that is why it couldn't be completly destroyed.

Naruto had been blind, nor he had pulled over a vail in front of himself by keeping his emtions masked. The sole purprose has always been to lead this world into lasting peace, and he'd already set up an organization to maintain it once achieved. There were thoughts that came to him in a train of questions, but all asking the same thing, needing the same answer. He had consistently asked himself, how could he lead the world into happiness if he was miserably?

He failed to supply the approriate answer and instead chose to tell himself that he was happy with his life, but one little push and he'd been forced to face the cold hearted reality that he'd pushed at the back of his head and surprressed with all his power: he was miserably deep in the inside. There was really no change in him, only difference was that he'd stopped wearing the mask of happiness, but the reality was one: he was still wearing masks.

Over the past month, he'd been forced to admit it. As he told the delightful sister of the Kazekage, he wanted to live. The friends that he'd so cherished when he was younger had been abondoned, simply because he pursued his dream over everything. As he had realized, he was doing things the wrong way. Why discard your friends if they don't have your tail tied to a pole in the north while your eyes are set for the south?

As Naruto glanced over to each of them, he couldn't help by mentaly slap himself over his foolishness. He may be good at playing the political games, but he really was an idiot. From Aburame to Yamanaka, they were all smiling, sharing jokes while stuffing mouthfuls of the meat heat up by the unforgiving fire, bottles of sake all over while the night lights offered their lights and beauty in attendance to the party.

This was the scene at the back of his house.

Even when that great feeling of belonging with them, Naruto was content with just watching them from the sides. The sight was beautiful, true friendship, something that he had so dearly missed. Naruto's eyes were forced off the friends that he'd so abandoned as Temari walked up to him, hands placed on her hips and a look that wasn't wanted in a party.

Smiling despite the look the woman was giving him, Naruto spoke in a much frindlier tone that he'd ever used when speaking with her, ''that kind of look is a crime in this kind of place Temari-sama. I am still employed by the Police Force to act in case of an emergency, and this is an emergency, if you don't start smiling, I will have you arrested.''

''Are you trying to be funny?'' Clearly, the current leader of Whirpools was less than amused.

''No,'' Naruto said, putting on the mask of complete seriousness. ''I'm actually serious, Leader-sama. What you're doing is a serious crime against one who organized the party.''

''Are you perhaps trying to take away attention from the reason I am here giving you this look?''

''Maybe,'' Naruto said, he pulled Temari to his side. ''Don't be so uptight, Temari. Shikamaru won't come after you if you don't smile,'' he said. Though he was ready to defend himself from being hit, for manhandling her like that. But he just wanted her to see what he was seeing.

Instead of fuming at her fellow blond, Temari sighed, before speaking, ''I really feel out of place. Honestly, I haven't done something like this. Ever since Gaara became Kazekage, its always been about work, and when he was younger, well, there was no time for joy.''

''We used to do this when we were younger, minus the sake, big breats, hormones flying over, and subtile glances of perverseness,'' Naruto said with a small smile. ''It has been so long that I don't quite remember the feeling. I even feel like a stranger, and honestly don't know how to join them.''

''Breasts? Homones, glances?'' Temari eyed the blond questionably.

''Kiba has had a few drinks already, and is probably arroused by the many images he's painted in his mind of a naked Hinata begging him for more; Lee is wondering why he can't get drunk after so many drinks he's drank; Teten is stuck between Neji and Lee: she likes both but doesn't know which one to pick: Shino is being Shino, and both Hinata and Sakura have been sending glances at us, but none too brave to walk up to me.''

''And Shikamaru?''

''Who knows?'' Naruto shrugged, purposefully. ''The sight is beautiful isn't it?''

Watching them carefully, Temari agreed that they were happy and it really made her smile just by watching them, even when each of them had their own 'problem's, they were still laughing together. ''Well, we can't remain at this side forever, now can we?''

''I guess not,'' Naruto said. ''Shall we?''

''Sure, one more thing Naruto: Call me Temari-sama again and I will send you back to your bed, and this time it won't-'' Temari was cut off when Naruto placed his index finger on her lips and kissed her on her forehead.

''No threats today, Tema,'' he sped off to the others because he could feel her anger reaching the highs. Temari wanted to summon her fan and blow up everything just to get the blond, but she sighed, and realized she would only mess up things. Naruto came to her side again, seeing she wasn't going to hit him. ''Oh, Shikamaru does like you, and he's been sending shadow glances at you. I can handle Gaara, do what your heart tells you.'' Once more, he left her, standing alone.

''Naruto, I thought you were never going to join us,'' Ino chirped in as he walked up to the group.

''W-wewould have d-draggged him here by force iif he didn't wanna jon us,'' a drunk Kiba said.

None of them had really changed that much, Naruto smiled sadly, ''I pity you Kiba,'' the blond got confused looks. ''The party is only going to start now and you're already wasted. If we had known, we should have just given him 'spiked' water like Lee, here, right Tenten?''

Lee spat out his drink and glared at a nervous Tenten. ''How could you Tenten?'' The boy looked devastated by the betrayal from his teammate and friend. Here he was filling his gut with what he assumed was sake, and now his dreams were crushed: he'd been drinking water that tasted and smelled like sake.

Tenten shifted the blame to Sakura, ''It was Sakura who came up with the idea and the right juice to fool you.''

''Sakura-san...'' Lee's body had twisted as he looked at the girl he so dearly loves.

''Guys,'' Naruto said a bit loudly to get their attention, ''I've ben an ass, and I'm sorry for abandoning our friendship. You guys were my friends when no one else wanted me, through the academy chunin exams, we were together, and I threw it all away, treated you like strangers. For that I'm sorry. I realize now that we had a good thing going, but I thought that I didn't need it, and it turns that I was wrong.''

''We were never angry with you, Naruto-kun,'' a very calm Hinata said, earning nods from a few. ''You were and will always be our friend. Even when we will be forced to call you Naruto-sama soon enough.''

''Hinata making a joke? What has happened to this world? Is it the alocohol?''

''We've just all grown Naruto,'' Sakura said. ''But you're just a little step away from us, but we're still friends and nothing will change that.''

'I doubt that,' Naruto thought. Would she still say that if she saw the pieces of Sasuke's body? Probably not. But who knew? None of them knew he had mutilated Sasuke to death: it was still an S-rank secret, but they would eventually find out.

''Thank yo-''

Ino cut off Naruto, ''You guys speak for yourself,'' she huffed, crossing her hands just bellow her bust, ''I'm actually mad at him and I won't forgive him until he meets my demands!''

There goes the drama queen.

''Ino,'' Naruto started calmly. ''Will a kiss under the stars, and before the eyes of Sakura surface as an apology?''

''Yes,'' no shame whatsover.

Naruto pulled Hinata and kissed her on the lips for a few moments before she fainted, while Ino and the others watched wide eyed.

''What the Fuck, Naruto?!'' That was both from Ino and Kiba.

''I know this one,'' Shikamaru said smiling. ''He never stipulated who will share the kiss. Ino, you assumed he was going to do it with you, but Naruto never said so. Besides, Hinata derserved that one for all the support she gave him when he was still a genin. Out of everyone, she was his biggest supporter.''

''I still won't accept it!'' Ino was firm.

''I'll make it up to you, Ino,'' Naruto said holding out a bottle. ''I'd like to prepare a toast.'' He then took out another bottle and threw it to Neji who wasn't holding any. ''To new beginnings!''

''New Beginnings!''

Just when Neji was about to put his bottle on his mouth, it exploded into a paint of blue, washing over his face. ''Now you look better. That look of yours was starting to annoy me,'' Naruto added with a smile as the others joined in with laughter at the look on Neji's face.

End of chapter

Two more chapters to go.

Yup, things have been hurried over the past two chapters, before I screw things over, I won't say anything on it.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Iwagakure

''Halt,'' a guard, stern faced, said to Naruto, with his right hand raised up. ''Who are you? And state your business!''

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the blatant insult to his face. That was no different than seeing Konoha's yellow flash walking through the streets of this village and stop him just to ask who he was: everyone in Iwagakure knew his father, they also knew him. The name of Naruto wasn't just spoken in Iwa only, wherever they spoke of the UN, the spoke his name. Besides, wasn't he the man who defeated the Yondaime Raikage? At least that is what the rumors say anyway.

This man knew exactly who he was and yet acted like he was some sort of cave man who just crawled out of his bed only to realize that centuries have past since he last stepped outside. It didn't actually bother him that he was getting this kind of treatment from the people he was helping. Not the least. He was too happy to be insulted. He merely found it amusing. It was ignorance that made a man act like this, and who was he to judge a man in his own house?

Acting the part that was requested of him, Naruto took off the hat on his head, hanged it loose on his back and offered a blank smile, ''Namikaze Naruto, leader of the Village Hidden in Whirlpools. I have a meeting with the Yondaime Tsuchikage,'' his tone was smooth, making words just slide through his lips without a bump.

The guard narrowed his eyes, starred at him for a good minute or less. Whether he was disappointed that the blond didn't act all high and mighty, it couldn't be seen: his expression became blank as he regarded the man before him. ''I wasn't aware that she was expecting you nor has a word been given to us to 'prepare' for your visit.''

He didn't budge, merely kept his stare and didn't move away from the blond.

''That is because the meeting wasn't planned. She doesn't know I am coming. You can say this is a surprise visit to a fellow leader. I'm sure my dear won't mind my visit,'' the smooth tone was kept, as well as the blank smile.

The man released a snort, and let out a disgusted snarl, probably because he just called Kurotsuchi his dear and said 'fellow' leader. Obviously, there were some issues with the man. But as far as he was concerned, he hasn't done anything. Why couldn't people just allow the past to be the past?

''I'm afraid I can't let you in. Regardless of your power, you can't just waltz in to our village and demand a meeting with our leader. You will have to make an appointment first and if she agrees to meet with you, then will we allow you to enter,'' the man stated firmly. ''Besides, I'm not sure she will be free to see you now, she is quite busy.''

''Demand, waltz in?'' Naruto asked. ''But I haven't demanded anything, nor have I budged into anything. The fact that we are having this kind of conversation just shows that I've not demanded anything nor forced anything, but actually humbly requesting the permission to enter the village, don't you think?''

''No,'' the man said with a shrug. ''That depends on your intepretation. What you say is how you see things and what I say is how I see things.''

''I cannot argue with you there. So, both of us are right, but that doesn't matter, because you're not going to allow me to enter peacefully now are you?'' Naruto cupped his chin for a moment or so. ''This is embarrassing: the President of the UN and leader of Whirpools being treated like this.''

''Your tittles don't mean anything to us, Namikaze. To us, you're just another S-rank crminal in our bingo books. In fact, I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. I should be apprehending you, but it is out of respect for the work the UN is doing at our borders that we don't do anything...''

Naruto took a few steps towards the man, a somewhat foxy smile playing on his lips. ''I never said my tittles mean anything, but it must mean I am doing a good job if the likes of you are even able to see it,'' he said before placing his hand on the man's forehead. He then walked past the man, who remained frozen. ''Stay like that for a while. The effects will wear off soon enough.''

He didn't take more than four steps forward before a squad of Anbu dropped around him. ''Has your leader finally taken notice of me? Or has she had enough fun at my expense?''

''Neither,'' one of the Anbu said. ''Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to be seen walking in our streets lest should the villagers riot and desire to stone you.''

Naruto didn't see that happening, but chose not to say anything. ''Well, lead the way, Anbu-san,'' he said politely with a smile.

Now that was just annoying. But the Anbu just disappeared with him towards Kurotsuchi's office. The woman had stacks of paper all over her desk, and had a really nasty look on her face. She seemed sleep deprived though.

Naruto helped himself to a chair after the Anbu had disappeared from his sight, ''you look busy...''

''Really?'' Kurotsuchi said sacarstically. ''What do you want, Naruto?''

He was going to let the blantat insult that had just occured at the gate slide this time. Besides, the man was just expressing himself. Everyone did that every now and then. ''You haven't been responding to be calls, Kurotsuchi and I'm still marked as an S-rank criminal in your bingo books. We'd agreed that I would have my picture removed.''

''I haven't had the time to do that, and I had nothing to say to you. When I get the time, I will sort it out. Now, if that is all, you can leave. Now.'' The woman said in a dismissmive tone.

Naruto crossed his legs, and made himself comfortable on the chair he sat on, ''When things were difficult you hunted me down, stalked me until you got to me. Now that I have 'removed' Shinji and offered my hand in rebuilding, you no longer have anything to do with me. I feel like you used me, Kurotsuchi.''

''Does that surprise you?''

''Not at all,'' Naruto said. ''You have made it a point to say that you dislike my guts and will probably take off my head one day. Still, after everything, I had thought you would've changed a bit.''

''Nothing has changed,'' Kurotsuchi said firmly, staring straight into the blond.

He smiled in response, ''At least you don't feel so much anger at my presence that you have to hold yourself from lunging at me this time. That is at least something to smile about, and something I would consider a change.''

''Hooray, I can stand you. But I still don't like you. So can you get on to the business so I can get back to my work?''

Naruto regarded the woman for a few moments before finally speaking. ''You're working yourself too hard, Kurotsuchi. If you continue like this, you'll collapse, so will the work you're doing. The lesson I've leaned through this time is that you can't do everything on your own.''

''Thanks for the wonderful advise Naruto, but I can handle things on my own. Now, if you don't get straight to business, or stop with the small talk, I will have you kicked out of my village,'' Kurotsuchi said seriously. ''Do you understand what I am saying?''

''Crystal, but you won't do that. You can't afford to do something like that, not to me, not now at least and not certainly when the Police Force is fending off enermies your grandfather created when he was still in charge.''

Kurotsuchi glanced at the blond with a sharp look, ''Now because you are supplying help you think that you own me? And I was starting to think that this kind thing was really true...''

''You're really quick to jump the ship when you see a tail peeking above the water, Kurotsuchi,'' Naruto said before adding. ''I never said I own you nor have I made any unfair demands. I haven't even demanded anything. I've just pointed out that you can't spit on me not after all the efforts I went through for you, I was even motivated to 'remove' Shinji because you were crying. You and I entered into an agreement, but you won't honor it.''

''You had you reasons for killing Shinji, don't try to manipulate me by saying you did it for me. I am thankful he was killed, but I don't exactly owe you much. Besides, you're just using this opportunity to make yourself look good to your admires. You should be happy I'm allowing you to do it while my mouth is shut.'' No one could deny that what the UN was doing for Iwagakure has won the organization a lot of fans from many nations, and some people inside the village.

''Are you that cynical?'' Naruto asked tone a bit sharp, catching Kurotsuchi off-guard. ''I mean I do things for you from the goodness of my heart, and even stand blatant insults from your men, and yet you can't even say thank you, or even change that twisted perception you have of me. Is it really difficult to believe that I do this because I'm a good person? Or do you just don't want to believe it because it will crush your miserable dreams?''

''Watch how you speak to me, Namikaze,'' the Yondaime Tsuchikage said. ''I will tolerate your breath before me, but I will not accept insults from you, especially in my office.''

Naruto sighed, tossed a few thoughts before speaking. ''You were supposed to speak to you Daimyo more than a month ago. Earth isn't a signatory to the UN, so the Police Force shouldn't be here. They are here because of the 'side' agreement you entered with the UN, but in the coming weeks, I'll have to withdraw them... Your contractual agreement ended when Shinji was declared dead.''

''I spoke to him, and he said no,'' Kurotsuchi said.

''Is that it?''

''I managed to convince him otherwise. So he gave his seal of aprroval - I will send the document in the coming days. However, the Police Force are only given temporary Jurisdiction throughout the Earth, except anywhere near the capital. Should anyone from the force be sported anywhere near the capital, they will be detained, or killed. Should you try to pursecute anyone within the land with good relations with the Daimyo, your pass will be revoked.''

''Those are the terms, huh?''

Kurotsuchi nodded. ''I would follow them to heart if I were you. Not that I care for you anyway, but It wouldn't do well to my conscious if your men are harmed while in the services for my village.''

''Your Daimyo must be a really dirty man, huh?''

The Yondaime Tsuchikage merely shrugged in response. ''Not my problem. Besides who would want to be pusercuted by an organization he isn't part of and in his own home? The Daimyo controls this country, and he certainly won't allow anyone to turn it upside down looking for rats.''

''Don't you agree that the 'rats' must be held accountable for their wrongs? No one should be above accountability, no one should be above the law.''

''Who's law is it? What gives one man the right to pass judgement on another man? Are you trying to make yourself god?''

''You have this all wrong: yes, the law started with me, but it was made passable by leaders of nations. No man should try to be a god to others, but the law was created, everyone who accepted falls under it, even I, and all the leaders who agreed upon it. If we create a law and say don't kill and you kill, I have to bring you before the courts that abide by that law. Would you say it is I who charges, or the courts? The courts are just there to ensure everyone is represented fairly, and no one misuses the law. It was the law that judges, not a single person.

Your problem is that you can't see the UN and its qualities: you only see the Namikaze who slughtered your men.''

While she couldn't find fault in his words, Kurotsuchi wasn't prepared to agree with it neither. ''Can you blame me though? You killed my men right before my eyes.''

''Yes, I can blame you for not understanding your own actions? I told you already, what did you think was going to happen when you marched into the borders of Amegakure. Don't try to fight a war when you don't undstand the consequences. In war, you lose something, win something: if you aren't prepared to lose anything, don't go to war, stay home with your children teaching them what is right and what is wrong.''

Kurotsuchi glared at the blond, who returned her glare just as sternly as hers. ''I will admit that the attack on Amegakure was misguided, but I cannot forget what you did nor can I forgive it. The anger I felt then was real and I canot excuse it.''

''Nobody is disputing your feelings.'' Naruto said. ''Answer this question, Kurotsuchi-san: you're a leader, if someone attempted to take over your village, what would you do? If you tell me that you wouldn't fight to kill those who threaten your security, then I will hand over my blade to you in the near future and let you kill me for doing what was wrong.''

Kurotsuchi had never denied that she would have killed anyone who dared attack her village: it was the natural response of a shinobi. She knew it, but yet couldn't forgive the blond.

''Shinobi battles always end in death. I'm trying to change that so that there will be no needless deaths. I created the Police Force because I knew it was the only way to stop the bloodshed. Your men would've been in battle now, fighting your enemies to death, but the Police Force has stepped in between. Systematically, and tacitcally, we aprehended your enemies one by one without spilling blood and avoiding meaningless battles.''

She had seen in with her own eyes: it was happening just outside her borders after all. The Police Force operated in groups of specialized men, who used the seal Naruto had taught them to restrain the criminals. All it needed was just one touch and it was over: battle avoided and no blood being fed to the ground.

''Our business is done, don't you think?''

Naruto smiled and stood up, ''Yes,'' he said. ''I will see you soon, Yondaime-sama.'' He vanished in a flash of yellow.

Kurotsuchi frowned the moment he disappeared from her sight. What was right and what was wrong? It was laughable that a grown up woman like her was asking such a question, but Naruto's words begged the question to be asked. The world he was tryng to create was admirable, and she liked the idea of settling things without the need to sacrifice her men.

Konoha

Iruka was rendered completly speechless when Naruto walked into his class while he was busy with one of his lessons. His students were even amazed at how the Chunin teacher had been so frozen by the arrival of one man. When Naruto had walked out of the village, he'd never thought that the blond would ever return again, since they no longer kept contact - admittedly, this made him a sad given all the memories he shared with the blond when he was still his wayward student.

According to what he overheard from Tsunade, Naruto had only been awake for about two days after he was put to a week-long sleep. The Chunin hadn't thought that the blond would be back to travelling around so soon after everything. He was still happy, so happy that he could cry and start giggling like he was seeing the smile of his crush.

''Don't be freaked out like that, Iruka-sensei,'' Naruto said with a smile. ''You look like you've seen a scary ghost. I know it has been long, but it isn't that much of a shock that I have appeared before you...''

Iruka blinked once before regaining his compusure, a bit quickly before he loses his dignity before his students. ''S-sorry,'' he said a bit quickly. ''It has just been so long since you came here, or even talked to me. Considering how busy you have been, I didn't think that you would come here.''

''Why not?'' Naruto asked, taking a sit on Iruka's desk, body faced the class while his head was turned to face the teacher. ''You're a friend after all.''

That felt like he had been injected with a liquid of awakening, that worked magical wonders to display all the fun times and bad times he had with Naruto. Yes, they were good towards each other when they got to know each other well. He acted like a parent to Naruto, but it was still pleasing to know that the blond still considered him a friend, and still had the time to check up on him.

''I'm glad you still think that way,'' Uruka said said with a warm smile. ''Let me introduce you to my students... You have no problem with that don't you?''

Naruto shook his head. ''Not at all,'' he said before adding. ''I'd like to meet the new generation of Konoha's academy students...''

Clearing his throat, Iruka looked at his quiet class with a broad smile, ''Class, I'm sure many of you already have heard of Namikaze Naruto, and those of who you are repeating this grade,'' his eyes looked at someone in particular, ''met him last year in this very same class. This is Naruto, a fromer student of mine, and Jonin of Konoha, Leader of The Village Hidden in Whirlpools, and Founder, as well as President of the UN. Most of you know more of the UN's Police Force, that was founded by him as well. Did I mention that he was a the top candidate to be the Rokudaime Hokage?''

Obvious to anyone listening, Iruka was really proud of what his former Student had become. The class had never heard the chunin speak so proudly of anyone, not even their own genius was spoken about in such a manner by the Chunin. The gleam in his eyes completely eradicated any thought that he might be faking things, and the fact that Iruka also taught Naruto, THE Naruto was appealing.

Enough to make one of the student say, ''Wow Iruka-sensei. And I thought you were a dull sensei. I guess I must start respecting you now...''

Obviously, the kid received and threatening glare that made him shrink back to his seat.

As the murmers started to pick up, Iruka was forced to take action to restore the precious order he so often finds himself losing, ''QUIET DOWN!'' That did the trick. ''If you have something to say, raise up your hand first.''

A lot of hands were raised up, making it hard for Iruka to pick which one. It really excited him just to see how the students were excited about this unannounced visit from someone famous as Naruto. The reaction was a bit different from the class of last year. Naruto also appeared more relaxed, and happy, which made him even happier.

He finally picked one, allowing the first question. ''Why did you leave Konoha, Namikaze-sama? Your father's face is in the Hokage Monument and you could've had had your face up there too.''

Another one followed shortly. ''If you had stayed in Konoha, you could've become our Hokage and followed after the Yondaime Hokage. Isn't it like betraying your home to leave to form another village?''

Iruka would've have really liked different questions than those, but he was still smiling inside with how insightful his students were. These were not the kind of questions Naruto would've asked in his days.

''I left Konoha because I wanted to follow my dream. We all have dreams, and I believe that as along as we live in a free world, and the dreams that we have aren't to oppress other people but to make the world better, than we should follow them. Yes, I could've stayed in Konoha and become Hokage one day, but I wanted to live differently, follow that path I want for myself.

I didn't exactly leave to form a new village. I left to rebuild my ancestral home. Before I called myself Namikaze Naruto, I was using my mothers name, Uzumaki. You don't know this, but my mother came from the Village Hidden in Whirlpools when she was younger, during the times when the Shodai's wife, Uzumaki Minto was still alive.

Let me take you through a little history first: the Village Hidden in Whirpools was the home of the Uzumaki clan, a clan of longetivity and masters of Fuinjutsu, they were also blood relatives of the Senju. Technically, that makes them relatives of the Uchiha, since the founders of Uchiha and Senju were brothers.

When Konoha was founded, the Uzumaki allied with Konoha and they became friends. The orange swirl you see in the Jonin vests is the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. The relationship between Whirlpools and Konoha was strengthened when Hashirama married Uzumaki Mito. Years passed, and my mother, Uzumaki Kushina, was brought into this village, when Mito was in the death bed.

However, during the Second Shinobi World war, the Whirpools was destroyed by a combined forces of Hidden villages. The destruction was complete and only a few remained alive. The were a few Uzumaki who remained scattered across the nations, but they have all passed away and there is only one full blooded Uzumaki who is still alive.

So you see, I have only returned 'home' where my mother came from, to restore that which was destroyed during the Second war. You all want to make your mothers happy. Although I never met mine while she was still alive, I want her to be proud of me in the after life for restoring her village. I have not betrayed Konoha, but have simply left to rebuilt its former ally, an ally that was brought by Konoha's co-founding clan, the Senju-clan.''

Remarkebly, all the students had listen well to Naruto's lengthy history. Iruka envied the blond, he could never get his students so attentive when teaching history. Naruto was always able to get your attention, you may hate him and think of snapping his neck or just murder him with your eyes, but he always got your attention.

''Your mother will surely be happy with what you did for her clan,'' a girl said, smiling warmly. ''Thoughh, I think Yondaime-sama will be a little jealous that you chose your mother instead of him.''

Naruto chukled, ''Well, I compensated by using his name.'' He smiled, ''Anymore questions?''

''My dad works for the Police Force and he says that they are the coollest. Even cooler than shinobi even though they don't do flashy jutsus, is that true?''

''Yes they are,'' Naruto said. ''Join 'em when you grow up and you'll see how cool they are. They are not hailed as heroes in their home villages, only, but in every land they go to. I know because couple of months ago, I was also part of the Military Force.''

''You must have been a genius when you were at the academy to have formed something as big as the UN...''

Iruka snorted, with a laugh, while Naruto gave a somewhat nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head. ''Well...''

Meanwhile, Hokage Office

While Tsunade frowned at the thought of Naruto heading straight to Iruka after dropping off his friends, she still smiled while watching him along with Jiraiya, through the Sandaime's old magical crystal ball. ''It feels like it has been years since I last saw him smiling like that...''

''That is because it has been years,'' Jiraiya said. ''Look at him, he is way more happier than before. This past month did good to his mind as he had a whole lot of time to reflect upon his life, and I have to say, I am proud of him,'' a bit sad at the same time that his help wasn't needed. It seems like he was never going to fulfil his role as the blond's godfather after all.

''The smile is different from back then, do you think he was faking it?''

Jiraiyed didn't need to ponder on it for too long, the answer was right in front of him. ''Most of the time, yes.''

''I'm not surprised,'' Tsunade said with a sigh. ''What now, Jiraiya? From what Miyuki told you, Sasuke is dead, and we know that most members of the Akatsuki, if not all of the, are dead. Shinji is dead as well. So what is the next move?''

''I don't know for sure, but the troubles have lessoned. As for me, I will be probably living in the Whirlpools for most of my time as a member of the UN's committee. I don't know if I will remain with the Discplinary Committee, but whatever happens, I will be forced to move into the Whirlpools...'' Jiraiya said.

Tsunade became quiet for a few moments as she digested his words. Jiraiya was not a child that she could tell him what to do. He wasn't that needed in the village, given that he's never been always available, but she knew to count on him if trouble does pop up. ''It will leave the village a little exposed with Kakashi gone, and if you go as well...''

''Now is no longer the time to be saying things like that, Tsunade. We shouldn't be focused on keeping the front of the strongest Hidden village. Who do you think is going to attack us? Kumo, Iwa, Kiri or Suna?'' None of those villages would do something like that, not when Naruto's presence was within each of the villages. ''Besides, being in the Whirlpool is no different than being in here. Uzu has always been a part of Konoha, even their shrine is built within our outskirts.''

Tsunade conceded Jiraiya's point. ''I guess you're right.'' She said. ''Uzumaki clan, eh? They were the most peace loving clan during the war-ton era before the shinobi villages were even formed. Even during the wars, they still refused to be involved, even when they were allied with us. Remarkable, isn't it? Konoha participated in each of the wars, and some may have started because of us, yet they didn't involve themselves, and their relationship with us never suffered.''

''Yet, they were still destroyed. Uzu was greatly fortified, and they relaxed in their security. Naruto has also fortified the village again, and the Whirlpools that surrounded the village are tuned on, a symbol of security for the village,'' Jiraiya added in thought.

''Do you think Naruto chose to build the UN in Uzu because of its history? The village was first to develop seals that could seal a Bijuu, but they didn't actively go hunting the Tailed-beasts because they weren't hungry for power, yet they were still feared and destroyed.''

''Perhaps,'' Jiraiya said. ''Uzu had secluded itself from other nations, but it was still surrounded by all Five Great Hidden Villages. Back then, it was the safest place to live in. The Uzumaki weren't fighters to begin with, but were strong nonetheless. Without even engaging in conflicts with other nations, they were still feared, how much powerful do you think they would've become if they'd abandoned their ways and chose to fight?''

''I guess that is what got them destroyed in the first place,'' Tsunade said. Yes, the village could have rivalled the Great Nations. With their chakra chains, sealing power, they could have collected more Bijuus than anyone... ''Peace endures, huh?''

''Hmm?''

''The spirit of Uzumaki, the Spirit of peace, one would have thought it was destroyed along with them, but Naruto has brought it into life again...'' Tsunade said with a smile. ''I'm starting to understand things a little...''

Two hours Later

''Come in, Naruto,'' Tsunade said, welcoming the blond who was knocking at the door, probably for the first time since she took the mantle of Hokage. ''You look well for someone who was unconscious for 8 days less than 48 hours ago.''

''I had much needed rest during that time,'' Naruto said calmly. Tsunade nodded, remained quiet, so did Jiraiya. The former seemed to be living the Fourth Shinobi World war in her mind. Sighing, Naruto spoke, ''Do what you must,'' he said so she could clear her inner conflicts.

The Fifth Hokage didn't debate: she stood up from her chair and walked over Naruto, before wrapping her arms around him in a bone-crushing hug, which was returned by the blond. After a few moments of bone crushing silence, Tsunade spoke in a whisper, ''I'm sorry, Naruto.''

A small, sad smile plastered across Naruto's lips for a few moments before he responded, ''So am I...''

They remained like that for a few more moments before Jiraiya chirped in, ''What about me? I feel like I'm being left out.''

As the two seperated, Naruto shrugged off as he took a sit, ''Go hug one of your customers, Jiraiya. I'm sure that will get your spirits high,'' the blond paused for a moment, ''But if that isn't enough, I will treat you to a bottle of sake from the Land of the Toads when you get Uzu. I know the Toads haven't been giving you any in a while.''

While Jiraiya was pracitically dancing, Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Naruto. ''Aren't you forgetting something, gaki?''

''That is Uzukage-sama, Hokage-sama,'' Naruto said with a smile. ''Natrually, I will send you a drop, Ba-chan.''

''What you suggesting, Uzukage-sama? Are you saying all I need is a drop to get drunk?''

Naruto put up his hands in a defensive manner, ''I would never suggest anything like that Hokage-sama. You have been drinking for years, surely you can handle a mere drop...''

''Pervert,'' Tsunade said looking at Jiraiya. ''The gaki thinks I can't hold my liquor. Should we teach him a lesson?''

After a few pleasantries were exchanged, possibly for the first time in years, the three returned to more pressing matters that needed to be settled. It was just for old times' sake that they had taken the comfortable route before going on to serious matters that were at hand.

''Jiraiya mentioned something about the restructuring of the UN, what brought this on?'' Tsunade asked.

Naruto raised his index finger, a smile that annoyed Tsunade played on his lips for a few moments before he responded. ''You're not an executive of the UN, Hokage-sama. So I'm afraid that level of information is just above your pay. Jiraiya, I would appreciate if you minded that when having your delightful talks with her...''

It was both said purposefully just to annoy Tsundade and at the same time it was the truth. The restructuring of the UN wasn't something that non-executive members were to know, and Jiraiya only knew, despite being a member of the DC, because he was his advisor. The reform concerned those in the UN's EC and the Supreme Court which decided whether it was lawful or not. Proper channels had to be followed in everything, and as one who formed the basics of the law, Naruto followed it to heart.

''You're playing this card, now are you?'' She remember saying something like this to many people. It wasn't because they were not trusted, but it was simply because it was just above them, and when following the right protocol, if it was beyond them, she didn't have to tell them.

''Yes, you liked doing it so many times, and besides, what would be the meaning of rules if we only apply them when it suits us?'' Naruto responded calmly. He knew Tsunade often did something like that: follow rules when it suited her, but he didn't judge her. Most of Konoha's rules were flawed to begin with.

Steering away the conversation from its current path, Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a calm look, ''How are you dealing things with Iwagakure? Their inclusion as beneficiaries to the UN's resources sparked quite the debate.'' He knew the blond had only waken up not long ago, But Naruto was a workaholic, surely he was trying to cover things up, not that Gaara wasn't covering up things.

''I was just there this morning,'' Naruto said. The first thing he had done when he woke up was prepare for his visit to the Earth country as matters needed to be put right. ''I've changed nothing in the agreement I formed with her, or a few tweeks Gaara added, but my 'debate' with her was rather fruitfull.''

''Oh? You trying to get your hands on the Yondaime Tsuchikage too?'' Jiraiya asked with a grin.

''No, not at all. Even if I tried, I would only succeed in getting my hands cut, well at this time anyway. Soon enough, she will be smiling in my office at Uzu. It may take years, months, but it will happen,'' the blond said confidently.

Tsunade shook her head, ''You're not becoming a pervet like Jiraiya, are you, Naruto? Because I swear if you're, I'll beat you up to the inch of your life.''

The fifth sounded way to serious that it was almost scary just thinking of what she might do if he said yes. Smiling, Naruto asnwered, ''Not at all, Ba-chan. I'm not an indecent man like your former teammate.''

''Good, keep it that way.''

Returning the car to the road, Jiraiya spoke, ''You sound confident that you can manage to get Kurostuchi change her thought of you...''

''Well, I'm rather confident with my pursuasive abilities. I'll admit, getting her to join the UN will be more of a mountain. For now, she can stop her hatred towards me, but convicing her to be part of the UN will be so difficult that it will make convincing Tsunade to return to this village look like a practical drill...''

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, ''Are you saying I'm easy?''

''No, but my words do imply that,'' his answered offered no relief to the stare of the Godaime Hokage. ''When are you going to ratify your membership to the UN?''

Tsunade's response came quick, ''In the next assembly.'' She said. ''I'd already discussed it with Gaara.''

''Wonderful,'' Naruto said. ''Can you permit Shizune to say a little while longer in Uzu? I really need her...''

Tsunade sighed, ''Naruto you're taking everything from me. You may have left Konoha, you're starting to strip the village of all its valuables.''

Naruto cupped his chin, appearing thoughtful, ''Hmm, I guess I am, unintentionally,'' he said. ''Well, I guess I will be taking my leave. Thank you for bringing them to me. It really helped,'' the blond said smiling before disappearing.

''Ah, I was going to ask him to have lunch with us...'' Tsunade mumbled a bit disappoitedly.

''Hime, you do know that lunch time has already passed, right?''

''So? I haven't eaten.''

Kirigakure

''President,'' Mei said acknowledging the blond's presence - he'd just appeared in her house. Well, every of her guards knew of his 'special' pass, he didn't have much trouble in having access to her place when without her knowledge. ''Its good to see you alive and well,'' she said with a smile.

The Godaime Mizukage had only returned from work not too long ago. It wasn't dark, but sun's back could still bee seen in the west mountains surrrounding the beautiful land surrounded by the sea. She'd just knocked off early because she wanted to relax and besides, since the village had recovered from its wars and managing to stay afloat without anyone holding its hand, she could afford to take some time out.

Naruto's presence made her happier at her choice. It was no different than just getting the wish of the day. First she takes times off to rest on an otherwise huge and cold lonely house that she so often resents for the sadness it brings. But the walls who were ready to watch her misery were now left disappointed as her President had shown up. Between the two of them, they could keep the walls awake all night, and then they will have something to glare about.

Before Naruto could respond as he took a sit beside Mei on her couch, the red haired woman spoke again, this time, she left a question. ''You're alright, neh?''

Naruto offered the woman a warm smile, ''Pretty much, yeah,'' he said. He's never been more happier, if anyone else wasn't convinced that he was okay with that response. ''I'm well, both physically and mentally,'' the blond added to make things clear for Mei as those were the two areas of concern.

''Good,'' as though she had been holding her breath, Mei let out a long breath of relief, and smiled once more. ''I'm glad you are well. Sorry I wasn't by your side more often than I should have.'' Considering that things had gone down just outside of her village, she believed she should've been with him for more days than she did.

''There is no need to apologize Mei,'' Naruto said warmly. ''Temari tells me that you spent two days, and that is enough for me. You have your village to lead. Besides, the 48 hours you spent by my side were more than the hours Miyuki spent,'' he didn't sound sad or disappointed by the fact. Mei tried piercing through his gaze to see if he was wearing a mask, but there was nothing.

He understood.

''Her country was being led by her uncle whom she has no relations with whatsover, and on the outside, appears more powerful than her. I was shocked, really, when I was informed that in less then three days, she'd already removed him from office, along with all his goons, and hired guards without a civil war or any reported battles breaking out,'' Mei said.

Her trusted Intel suggested that the uncle had not been willing to relinguish power to the returned Daimyo. The hired guards had been brought in to ensure that she didn't return. But in less than three days, the man had removed all his belongings from the palace and then completly vanished from sight. No one really knows what happened, but the results were clearly visible to everyone who looked.

''Did it surprise you when you were told? Or did you have something to do with it?'' Mei added with a question to the blond on her right side.

''Honestly, yes, I was surprised when I was told. Perhaps Shi had something to do with it, he hasn't been responding to any of my summons.'' Ultimately, his response implied that he didn't have anything to do with it. ''It just confirms that Miyuki is really resourcefull. Ever wondered how at her young age, seemingly powerless was able to gain control over the Wind country in the first place? There were more suitable candidates than her. Yes, her father wanted her to lead, but she wasn't the most suitable, yet she reigned supreme.''

''I suppose you know why...''

Naruto shook his head. ''It's all a mystery to me,'' he said. ''Let us not speak about her further, I don't want to ruin my mind...''

Mei was silent for a few moments: it didn't need a second guess for her to safely assume that things were still rock bottom between the pair, but that she wasn't complaing as it gave her a chance. ''Have you heard from Princess Koyuki? Considering how attatched to you she seemed, I'd assumed she would come to see you, but as far as I know, she didn't show and doesn't respond to any message sent to her.''

Again, Naruto shook his head, but this time, he added a frown, ''No. I haven't actually had a conversation with her in months. She refuses to speak to me for 'rejecting' her and forcing her into iscolation.''

''Why did you do that anyway? That woman really cared for you and you seemed to like her as well.'' Though she wouldn't tell him, his actions towards the Princess had been rather cold, everyone could agree with her on the notion.

Naruto waved his right hand dismissively, ''A matter of another day,'' he said a bit strongly. ''I really wish I was here on a personal visit, but that isn't the case.''

Things with the Mizukage were always fun. He had never been bored with his life in all his visits to her. Mei always had the right meds to keep you up and the kind of laughter that makes you just wanna stare as the ears absorb the melodious sound of her voice. A pity he wasn't going to have any of that, not at this time anyway.

''Well, we can still make it personal after the business is out of the table,'' Mei said with a smile. She couldn't keep it for too long as Naruto shook his head.

''Unfortunately, I can't do that. I want to, but I have guests to atend back at home. Temari is likely going to go bersek when she sees me for leaving her with my work while I slide through the joy ride...''

''Others are already gathering for the Executive congress?''

''No, you're all scheduled to be in Uzu in a week's time. It is just Gaara and a friend. Fuu and Utakata should arrive tonight as well. I wish to gather all Nine Jinchurikis in one place. I have tracked down Iwa's Jinchurikis but they are rather difficult people.''

Mei's curious brow arched at his revelation, ''Do you know such a meeting will shake the very foundations of the Elemental Nations if it leaks out. All of you gathering is a major threat that is greater than anything the world has ever seen. Some way wards minds will be thinking that the UN is just a stepping stone your Jinchuriki retribution.''

''I know, but it must be done,'' Naruto said. ''I require your blessing in using Kirigakure as a meeting place. Should talks be fruitfull, we shall continue to have our 'secret' meetings under your protection.''

Mei sighed, ''You know I can't say no,'' she said. ''But why Kiri?''

''I think it is the perfect place for the Jinchuriki revolution to start given its bloody history amongst the normal and those 'blessed' with special powers.''

''When will the meeting take place?''

''Between the Executive congress, and the Emergency Assembly,'' Naruto said, standing up. ''I will confirm dates with you after we meet for the Ec,'' he bent down before placing a soft kiss on Mei's forehead, ''I'll see you soon, Mei.''

''Can't you just send a clone to welcome Gaara?'' Mei said, not wanting him to leave.

''Tempting, but I can't do that.'' He offtered her one more smile before vanishing in a flash of yellow.

Suddenly, the silence in the house began to swallow the Mizukage in loneliness. There was no one with her, no one to speak to, no one to amuse her as she rids of the boredom. The spirits that were lifted when Naruto appeared, were no wiping the floor with their faces. Why did she even return early? At least in the office, she would've burried herself at work.

Letting out a long sigh, Mei stood up, heading towards her bathroom. She could kill some time by taking a really, really long bath, or even doze off in the water.

Wind Capital

''What do you want?'' Miyuki's stern voice demanded after a man, wearing a red mask appeared into her private quarters without a warning. ''I thought I told Naruto that I needed some time to think... Wasn't I loud enough for him or just he not know when to stop pestering?'' She could recognize Naruto's men without even their masks, and knew them by scent, not literally, off course.

The man that was making himself comfortable on her desk was the one she assumed controlled Naruto's Intelligence gathering, mainly for Uzu and the blond's own personal affairs. Shi had been dealing most with the UN, amongst other things. According to Naruto, he'd given one of the man wearing red masks command over his clones - that specialized in information gathering. She could never figure out which one as they all appeared to be the same.

Still, her report said this man was the top dog in Naruto's own spy network, but the man who handed her the report could never be sure since things were fairly hidden. The man who wore red masks were about 5, less or more, and neither knew each others faces. The only one who knew them was Naruto himself. Her report further suggested that these man were trained by Danzo in espionage, but she could never prove it.

''The message was clear,'' the man said in a monotone voice, ''That said, I'm not here on Naruto-sama's orders.''

''If Naruto didn't send you, then leave: I have nothing to discuss with you and as you can see, I have matters to deal with,'' she was refering to the stacks of papers that were in front of her, on her desk. Her foolish uncle had screwed up a lot of things in a short period of time, so she had to put them together in the way they were before his filfthy hands touched them.

''Don't be so cold Daimyo-sama: we are technically acquintances after all,'' the masked man said in a mild tone. ''Do you know that when you started your tenure as Wind Lord, Naruto-sama was making preparations for the UN to be formed?''

''What does that have to do with anything?''

''Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just making small talk to ease the pressure in the room, but it doesn't seem like it helped,'' the man paused for a moment, cocked his head to the right for a few moments as he studied Miyuki like a curious piece of a puzzle. ''Not so long after your coincidental meeting with Naruto-sama, you went to the Kazekage and discussed the potentials of an association with the son of Konoha's yellow Flash. Further more, you invited him to a banquet, as your date: mind you, all important businessman from the Wind were present as well as other rich folks from the outside. Naruto even gave an inspiring speech in the end...''

''Things happened like that, and then some. That is if my memory still serves me well,'' Miyuki simply said. ''Are you taking this somewhere?''

''Tell me, Daimyo-sama: why did Shinji decide to kill you? We can't speak of Sasuke as he wasn't the one calling the shots. You're just a 'normal' civilian, what threat did you pose to him? He wasn't that of sadist to kill you just to see the look on Naruto's face or just to do it so to make the blond see the way.''

''I can't exactly tell the answer to that question, but I do assume that if there were any other reasons, he would've told Naruto about it.''

The masked shook his head. ''Not unless he didn't want Naruto to know and had merely called him just to put the blame of your death in him as he was interested in seeing the Uzukage wallow in deppression just so he could put a halt to his plans. Well, 'killing' you should've 'two' problems for him.''

''So Shinji had another reason for 'killing' me,'' Miyuki said. ''Naruto didn't suggest anything of that nature,'' he blamed himself for what had happened to her. ''Nor did he say it may have been my fault.''

''That is because he trusts 'both' of you,'' the masked shinobi said. ''Yet, even when it wasn't entirely his fault, depite Shinji painting it that way, you didn't attempt to remedy things. I do wonder if he is just playing the part or ignoring the facts...'' he finished in thought.

''Playing the part?''

The masked shinobi didn't exactly answer the question, ''There is very little that is spoken regarding Naruto-sama that he doesn't know. It may take weeks, but eventually, this meeting will reach his ears.'' Pausing for a moment, he added, ''The dark feathured creatures are always watching, after all. But don't worry, as long as Naruto-sama trusts, he won't question. Like he always does.''

Whirlpools

As soon Naruto walked into his living room, he was greeted by a cold, and frightening stare from Temari. The woman had her hands resting on her waist, eyes unblinking as she regarded his presence. The blond couldn't quite finger what he might have done to set off her wrath. Yes, he'd been gone for all day handling other matters, but he hadn't done anything that would piss her off. She couldn't be angry about yesterday, could she? No.

''How nice of you to finally decide to return,'' Temari started in a quiet tone. ''I hope you did have your fun and solved all matters during your time away. As for me on the other hand, I had a lovely time running your village and having to bite my lip so many times when your 'children' cried and demanded to see you.''

Naruto smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head, ''Sorry,'' he said. ''I wanted to see everyone today so that I could begin work tomorrow. I should have told you something...''

''But you didn't and let me do your work while you're perfectly fine to handle it. Do you know how hard it is handling brats? They are annoying, never shut up and are downright frustrating!''

Considering how short tempered Temari was, Naruto couldn't deny that she would find it difficult handling needy brats, espcially the ones who could call themselves his 'children'. ''Tell, you what, I will make it up to your by doing whatever you want me to, if it is acceptable that is...''

Temari considered his reponse for a few moments. Her temper took a rest and she smiled, a bit of a nasty smile. ''Oh, you'd go that far,'' she said. ''Well, as long as you're willing...''

She never got to finish as Naruto raised his right hand. Naturally, it didn't bode well with Temari that he had the audicity to interrupt her like that. ''Our guests have arrived,'' the blond said, a bit happily.

''Guests?'' Temari repeated. ''I thought we were only expecting one guest, Gaara...''

Naruto merely smiled, ''Come on, love, let us go to greet our guests,'' the blond said happily, holding out his right hand.

Temari took two steps forward before she halted when the words trully sinked in: Naruto had just called her love, and that made her feel a few twitches inside. She narrowed her eyes at the blond dangerously, ''Don't call me that,'' she said firmly.

Naruto just waved her off, ''If I had accepted Gaara's proposal, the first one, we would be married already and you'd probably be knocked up, expecting, hopefully, a boy... I already have a girl...'' the last words were said in a whisper, but Temari heard him. She just didn't take much of it as she assumed he was talking about someone from the orphanage.

''Knocked up, me? By you? Can you even do that?'' Temari asked, stepping closer to the blond.

''Yes, wanna test that?''

Temari snorted, and pushed the blond aside, ''In your pitiful dreams,'' she said walking over to the door where he beloved brother was lying in wait for her. Her march towards the door was halted as she snapped her neck, turning towards her fellow blond, who was right behind her. ''Don't make me repeat myself, Naruto.'' That said, she went ahead.

''Gaara?'' Temari looked at her brother questionably because on his right hand was a woman she had never seen before. Temari was a confident woman and didn't fuss much over by looks, but when looking at the woman she couldn't help but feel threatened.

''She is beautiful isn't she?'' Naruto asked taking Mikoto's hand. He planted a soft kiss on the back of her hand before speaking again. ''I can never get quite enough of you and certainly I could go further than just the hand,'' he said to the black haired woman with a sly smile on his face.

Returning the smile, Mikoto responded, ''Well, you had your chance when father threw me into your room, and said you were free to do whatever you wanted. If you had played your charms right, my legs wouldn't have been kept crossed.''

''I will forever regret not taking the opportunity when it represented itself. Though, I do wish another represents itself soon enough. This time, I will surely grasp it, lip to lip, tounge to tounge and hand to hand...''

''There might an open window,'' Mikoto said a bit of glint in her eyes. ''But that depends... On certain factors.''

''What are those factors? I'd even willing to throw Gaara and Temari out... For you...''

Mikoto smiled pleasantly, but before she could respond, Gaara cleared his throat while Temari jabbed Naruto on the ribs. ''Stop, the image you're painting now is giving me unpleasant chills.''

''I see you two are as farmiliar as she says, despite only being in each others' company for a short time,'' Gaara said.

''Yes we are,'' Naruto said, ''Please come in, Gaara, Mikoto-chan,'' the blond said, leading the guests towards the sitting room, while Temari kept an eye on the black haired woman.

Mikoto noted and spoke, ''Something on your mind, Temari-san?'' she asked politely.

''Who are you?''

''Gaara's girlfriend,'' Naruto responded with a small smirk.

''What? WHAT?!''

''He is just messing with you, Temari,'' Gaara said, calming his sister. ''Mikoto and I are just friends.'' As of now anyway.

''Ah, I'm just a friend,'' Mikoto murmured. ''And I thought we were more than that.''

Naruto followed in by pulling Mikoto closer to him as they sat together on a couch while Gaara sat alongside his sister. ''Sit next to me, we'll make him realize just what he is missing,'' the blond said. ''I trust your journey was pleasant...''

''If you consider teleporting from Suna to here a journey, then yes, it was pleasant,'' Gaara responded quietly.

There are a number of 'access points' that Naruto created, which all led to the Wave country. Not everyone had access to them though, but he had one of his own in Sunagakure which he used to come here without the need to spend hours and days coming here. Gaara's special 'port' took him directly to the village while others had to take a ship after being flung into the Wave.

The reasons for that were that if he made it differently, no ships will head to Uzu and that meant no business for him and for his people.

''That is good to know,'' Naruto said. ''I didn't think you would've have made acquaintance with this delightful woman by this time, and gotten close enough to actually bring her here with you like a date.''

''It isn't like that,'' Gaara started quietly. ''I brought her with me because she was eager to see you.''

''Ah, then there is little progress in the talks for an agreement. Well, I should have expected this from Sabaku no Gaara,'' Naruto sighed. He looked at Mikoto for a moment before looking back at the Kazekage. ''How do you like it?''

A barely noticeable frown settled on Gaara for a second, ''Is everything true, and whar were you doing so far from our map?''

''The facts are true. Her father is a somewhat greedy man, which is why a civil war nearly broke out in the first place. Didn't she tell you? He's already 'sold' three of her elder sisters and two younger ones. The only son was 'sold' to a queen of some country.'' Naruto responded to Gaara's question. ''I was there because her older sister had requested for my help.''

''I'd assumed it wasn't a coincident that you were around her nation when things were getting interesting.'' Gaara said before adding. ''She doesn't seem to know you were asked to help though.'' He said refering to the surprised Mikoto.

''I didn't tell her,'' Naruto said with a sad smile. ''I do admit I hadn't anticipated her father to offer her to me when he'd learnt of my identity.'' It explained why he pushed her towards Gaara. ''Ayane told me she wanted to be freed from her shackles. She's already been forced to birth one child, and more will follow soon if nothing is done. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her life raising children of a man she doesn't love. Her younger sisters have only been married recetnly, all still holding out their innocence, but as the days pile up, it is getting harder.

Ayane is the older sibling, she knows what it feels like to share a bed with a man she would rather kill than sleep with. Naturally, she wants her sisters to be saved before it is too late.''

''Why did you save her father then?''

''I didn't save him, I saved the kingdom.'' Naruto said. ''I've made prepations. What is left is for me to 'convince' King Haba to retrieve all his children. Naturally, that will create a backlach from the husbands. I have things under control nonetheless, Mikoto's father will only be willing to join the UN if his daughter his married.''

A rare smile went across Gaara's face, ''You're not a nice person Naruto,'' he said. ''You know should he join the UN, the law will apply and you will do whatever you want. It will be easy for Mikoto's sisters to return home as they will be protected by the law of the UN. Even if her father decides to quit, it won't change much as the law has already been applied.''

''Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?!'' Temari snapped.

''Well,'' Naruto started. ''There is everything you've heard so far, and that I have put an offer for Gaara marry the delightful Mikoto-chan.''

''Is this true, Gaara?'' He nodded. ''Why would you do something like that to my brother?''

''Just returning the favor. He did try to set me up with you remember?'' Naruto grinned. ''Besides, Mikoto can be be my mistress while married to Gaara, if he doesn't want anything to do with her. I can supply all her physical needs...''

''You're disgusting, Naruto,'' Temari said distastefully.

''I so knew you were going to say that. You can't take a joke can you?''

''That wasn't funny.''

''You're just stiff, and Naruto is just being mean to Gaara... Because...'' she didn't say.

''Because what?''

''Oh, nothing...''

As the women stared at each other, Naruto looked at Gaara, ''So how was it, being President?''

End of chapter

I'm glad those five readers who reviewed liked the previous chapter.

Naruto will have his happy ending with Miyuki - all isn't lost as of yet.

I will post the next chapter within the next two days.

The Omnipresent Sage


	32. Chapter 32

Assembly Hall

''There are only 3266 officers in the Police Force. 1200 of which was only added to the forces three weeks ago. Out of that 1200, 250 were coming from Kumogakure and 495 coming from Amegakure. This brings a total of 725 men from Amegakure, and 350 from Kumogakure. We also received 700 men from Sunagakure, 525 from Kirigakure, and 650 from Konoha. I have managed to recruit over 125 to the Police force, which brings a total of 3075. This amount is only coming from Konoha, Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Amegakure, Kiri and Uzu. Our other members have only contributed a combined number of 191, which is quite honestly pathetic.

Over three months ago, I was forced to create 1000 clones on a daily basis because of the lack of personel in the Police force. It was rather taxting to my mind as all the clones had to do the rounds the UNPF do on a daily basis.

I have made calls for more shinobi to be put transfered into the UNPF, but there are many nations who have chosen to disregard that call. Such carelessness will be dealt with. We cannot go like this. Everything was agreed upon and anyone who didn't agree with anything passed was given the opportunity to make their opinions known.

The 3226 men in the Police force are spread across all nations,'' Naruto said, pointing all over the map, with nations highlighted in red, signifiying membership to the UNA. ''When we break them to small groups, they become very few, but they have proved to be effective. Last month only, 150 women and children were freed in the Earth country. 102 of those were led to Amegakure where the UN's homes for the lost were built; 48 were children who were being taken to Uzu, where they are being educated.

Because of the lack of funds, the burden of the people saved by the UNPF is placed on the village in which the homes are built. Amegakure is not the only village where we built temporary homes: there are 500 houses built just beside the Valley of End in the Fire country. Because of the location, the place is constantly watched by members of the UNPF. 210 of the houses are occupied and it is the UN's responsibility to ensure that those people are fed on a daily basis.

We have also arrested hundreds of criminals, many of which have already been put to prison, some of still being tried. There is also budget issues with regards to the criminals as they must also be fed.

Lastly, with regards to the UNPF, the 3226 men are paid monthly salaries for their work by the UN. As they are no longer available to take missions from their village, they make their living through payment from the organization which employs them. Naturally, payments are made based on rank of the official.'' Naruto stated.

The meeting had started some minutes ago and he was busy laying out his reports as president and some of the problems that the organization was facing. These issues needed to be solved or there would never be progress. The issue of funding was an important one as without it, it could mean the end of the Police Force and many other operations of the UN.

Leaders of different nations, plus the second in commands were sitting in the chairs as Naruto was alone in the center stage, a large map hanged on the wall just behind him. None of them could deny that the Police Force had been highly successful since its first operations. the problem has always been lack of support from nations though, even they could see that the UNPF was doing well, not everyone was willing to give it all.

''Kumogakure has 350 men in the UNPF, are they planning on joining us? If not, we cannot allow them to continue like this or they will soon have some influence of the operations of the Police Force,'' Tamara said.

''Tamara-san, Yumugakure has not transferred a single shinobi to the UNDF, should you be the one to be saying such words?'' Naruto asked the man who quickly shut up. ''This is one of those cases where other nations step up and say, if you won't do it, we will. Don't complain about it. If you followed upon our agreement, we wouldn't even be talking about this.''

''President Uzumaki,'' the Lord of Rivers started. ''I'm concerned by the number of Forces spread across the Fire country. Compared to other nations, the country has a huge number of forces operating within it. Can you explain why?''

''The Forces are spread based on missions assigned. But what explains the high number of forces within the Fire country is that there are camps around the country formed by the UN as temporary shelters for those in need of them, other camps hold bandits who are waiting to be led the Police Force Courts.''

''How are you doing to deal with the villages who are not abiding by our agreements? You said they would be dealt with, then how are you going to do that?''

Naruto took his time before responding. ''Small nations have taken comfort in the presence of the Police Force around their borders, yet they've refused to send their own men into the force. I have spoken to each leader about this, but nothing concrete was decided. The UN's EC has decided that within two weeks, our forces will be removed from any village or country that has not complied with the agreement.''

The words were received by a clap by someone who actually agreed with the decision while others were comepletly taken off guard by the idea. They all knew Naruto was ruthless, sometimes, when he had to execute the laws of the UN, but they hadn't thought that he would do that far.

''That is not all. We may be a peace organization, but there is a way in which we do things and those who don't want to comply with our agreements will have to face the music. The removal of the UNPF in your nations means that it will no longer work for the safety of your nations, but for those who want it. To put it simply, if you don't start complying with the UNPF, you will be writtern off.''

''You can't do that!'' one of the leaders shouted.

''I can and will,'' Naruto said firmly. ''I told each of you who have yet to comply that I would take measures should you fail to follow others lead.''

''Where is the peace in that?''

''There is no peace. This is administration and done in the name of fairness. When was the Police Force formed? Last year. The villages who have yet to follow on the agreement haven't because they don't have the numbers, it is simply because they don't want to. We request guns from them to kill a beast terrorizing the land, they refuse and yet expect us to protect them? No, things will not work like that.

We know that villages aren't equal, but we have said you can give what you can give. We agreed that each village would give what it could and you all agreed upon this. Yet, the very people who agreed don't act according to the agreement simply because they chose not to abide, not because they can't. The Wave doesn't have shinobi, we were fair to it and told them to transfer funds to make up for that gap. We were fair to everyone, it is you who haven't been fair.

You broke our agreement purposefully, and none of you can stand up say I didn't come to you about it. It is this purposeful actions that undermines our agreements that we must root out. Tell me, if you are able to undermine an agreement you made amongst others, what stops you from undermining other agreements?''

Some tense silence settled in the hall as Naruto received some looks, but the blond merely shrugged them all. It was a little rule that if you do share, we won't give you what others have collected. It wasn't like they weren't sharing because they didn't have anything, they had fish in their hooks, but just didn't want to give it up for the whole crew.

It would have been bad for Tazuna's country if they had also been required to transfer some men to the UNPF. The Wave depended on other villages for protection, naturally, it had to pay for that protection. The agreement they made was different as they didn't have any shinobi. Funds evened the field, and ensured that they reveived a global protection from the UN.

Seeing that no one was about to say anything, Naruto continued with his report. ''I said in the beggining that we were experiencing a shortage of funds. There are a lot of dishonest people in this hall. Over the last year, the UN built a lot of buildings around the Elemntal Nations, ranging from camps, Police Force offices, Prisons, amonsgt other things. All of which were paid for by me, Sunagakure, Ame, and Kiri, and mostly build by me. The three villages combined brought out a total of 250 Million, which I have been using to pay the men in the UNDF.

There money has also been used to purchase food for those displaced by bandits and without homes. Criminals arrested have also been fed using the money, and we coughed up to 55 Million to the work we did in Iwagakure. The Police Force require not less than 15 Million to run every month. Sometimes it can even go up to 25, like in december when operations were higher, and in January were we used a whooping 35, mostly because the numbers increased.

Projected cost for salaries and other expenses are to cost at between 14 to 20 million permonth. That is for the UNPF only. Food supply for the displaced in our camps, prisons as well as pay for the 'peace keepers' and prison personel, makes up roughly 7 million per month.

I have 250 academy students living in the Whirlpools, of which must also be fed by the UN. The total number of students in the academy registered for our prgamme is 2500, but because of space, and lack of trained teachers, we were force to accomodate the 250. However, by June, the number will increase by 1250 to 1500. We have been building a bigger academy. Another academy which will accomodate 1000 students will be build in Uzu. Prepations have been made. The academy is to be a specialized instution which will focus on Medical Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu.

That said, by end year, all 2500 students will be accomodated and trained for the next two and a half years. Upon graduation, they will either join the UNDF, Sealing Corps, or the Medical division. The latter two have yet to have their own HQ's but hopefully, by end next year things will be built. The UN's Medical Div' will have its own World Class hospital in the Rivers. Foundations for the hosiptal have already been laid.

We have also embarked on a developmental progam that seeks to help poor nations, naturally that requires a lot of money. The UNA gathered a pitiful 300 million - for this program - of which 200 should be spent by end July.

The UN received 550 mil from its core members while I controbuted 300 Million; I have also been promised to receive donations worth 600 million from various business men before end year. 500 million of the 550 has already been allocated to various departments. As I speak, the UN's bank account has a favorable balance of 50 million.''

Naruto paused to allow his audince to digest all the words he'd said. After a few moments, he continued speaking, ''Funding continues to be the problem. Treasury projects that if we are to carry out all that is needed for the UN, we needed a year budget of around 1 Billion a year, for the next three years since the UN is still young.''

''1 Billion?''

''Do you hear yourself, President? That is triple the budge I receice from my village!''

Murmuers broke out at the mention of one billion. Naruto let them play for a minute or so before silening them. ''I didn't say I wanted 1 billion from you people.''

Mei almost burst out laughing at the looks Naruto's statement brought out from the people who found the amount to be outrageous. Obviously, no one was going to agree to raise that kind of amount. Still, the millions being spoken of and the transactions that were going to take place meant that there was surely going to be some corruption lurking in the shadows. But she trusted that Naruto would handle things.

''What do you mean by that?''

''Most of you have not taken part in any of the UN's operation. The Police Force receives support the most, but other departments receive no support at all. For this reason, we have decided not to count on you for the operations you care little for. This means that we will not ask for permission to do certain things, but we will inform you. Just in the case of Iwa. There shouldn't have been a debate about the issue, nor when Kumo decided to send its help.

Until, you choose to reorganize your thinking, the UN will handle its business, and you will handle the UNA's matters.

The 1 Billion will be funded in this manner: I have signed agreements with good people who have pledged to donate 375 Million per year, for the next five years; I have ventured into business that will see procceeds of around 100 million per year. Those proceeds will be directed to the UN. Both Wind and Fire Daimyo have agreed to each 'donate' 65 Million per year - this excludes other contributions they will have to make. Suna, Ame, Kiri, Wave and Konoha have agreed to make a combined total of 380 million.

The rest of you will contribute the 5 to 10 million that was agreed upon last year. Do you have complains about that?''

No doubt that was asked purposefully. And some of the words had just been said to make them understand and know that even if didn't cotribute, operations will still continue. It was no different than being told that we will not beg, and if you don't want to, don't nobody will force you, but when we do our things, you won't take any part of it.

''Won't that give these villages some influence over operations?''

''No.''

''Can you prove it?''

''How?'' Naruto asked blankly. No response. ''Any other questions regarding funding?''

''What will happen to those villages who don't follow through with the funding?''

''Section 5 of Chapter two in the UN's charter.'' That was the answer Naruto gave. If you read the charter, you knew exactly what happens, Naruto didn't have to say it like it was an answer he just thought of in the moment.

Naruto continued with the report seeing no more questions were being refered to him, ''From January since now, we've received new members for the UNA, in Nadeshiko, Yukigakure, Bears, Keys, Vegetables, Birds, and Noodles. The Village Hidden in Leaves has also become a full member of the UN, Whirlpools has joined the UNA.''

Naruto took some time as he shuffled the papers in front of him. The minutes flying by were enough for his audiance to digest everything that has been said since the meeting began. There were still going to be much talks and a debate, voting to be done.

''During the time we've been in operation, we have seen the destruction of 30 of Orochimaru's bases, and the freeing of over 150 people from those hideouts. Recently, Konan, the leader of Amegakure also managed to 'take care' of the Snake Sannin himself and I handled Shinji. The latter had been branded an international criminal for the attacks on Takigakure, Kusa, Iwasaki, Wind and Iwagakure - this was done in my absence. I managed to track down the criminal and delivered the 'punishment' that had been decided to be sufficient for a 'man'' of his crimes.''

Those words were accepted by a round of applause as this was something to applaud and good for the nations and the stability of the Elemental Nations. It didn't matter if death had been the punishment, those two were dangerous criminals that needed to be dealt with accordingly. Prison wasn't good enough for them, death had been the ultimate price for them and no one was complaining that it had been delivered.

''This concludes the report I had. Now moving on to other matters,'' before he could go on, a hand was raised, Naruto allowed for the question to be heard.

''There has been growing concerns over your positions in the UN. Not only are you the Chief of the UN, you're the chair of the Supreme Council, a member of its EC, you also serve in the Judiciary Committee, this is supported by the law you created. You seem to monopolize every leadership position in the UN and 'offered' others to your friends. How are you going to adress this, President?''

All eyes turned on the blond who remained calm and quiet for a few moments before he finally responded. ''I don't see why you're complaining as what concerns you more is the UNA, which you're all part of and make decisions regarding your nations security and stability. The UN is just the core body, but doesn't make decisions for the UNA, we focus on our objectives.

However, since this is democracy, I have decided to step down from my post as Chair of the Supreme Council. You will select the new Chair of your liking. Konan has also agreed to step down as Chair of the UNA, you will choose a new Chair of your liking. However, the UN's leadership will remain the same. It isn't up for discussion. Changes after this will be made in the next four years, by the Supreme Council.

You people even hardly take part in anything that is UN except for the Police Force, why are there complains?

Turn to page six on the file next to you and you will see the new structure of both the UN and UNA.''

UN President: Namikaze Naruto

Vice President: Subaku no Gaara

Secretary In General: Kirihara

UN Supreme Council

Chair:

Deputy:

Members include all Daimyos and leaders of each village with membership stataus to the UNa, and is a statutory to the UN's charter; by virtue of being a Chair, the Chairs of the Disclipnary Committee, and the Judiciary Committee, Commander of the Police Force, gain a seat in the Council.

The council is the highest council which combines both the UN and the UNA. Its primary mandate is to elect leaders of the UN and the UNA. It is the committee that will elect the President of the UN every five years; the council will only gather once every year.

UN EC

Chair: Terumi Mei

Deputy: Subaku no Gaara

Members: Kirihara

: Namikaze Naruto

: Senju Tsunade

: Tamara

: Konan

: Yoshino

: Takada

The committe is responsible for the running of the UN and its daily operations. They make the executive decisions. Commanders of the Police Force report only to the council.

UNA EC

Chair

Deputy: Shion

Members: Leaders of membership nations.

Responsible for overseeing the alliance between the nations allied is fair as well as attempting to broker peace between allied nations, and ensuring that members are good relations exists.

Supreme Court

Remains unchanged.

Disciplinary Commiitte

Remains unchanged. The committee will be tasked not only with investigating activities in the UN but also in the UNA. As stated before, the committee is independent.

Judiciary Council

The council will be an independent body of the UN. It is the council above the supreme court, and has certain 'rights' over the discplinary committee.

National Security Council

The Committee will be tasked with seeing that threats ranking above S-rank are dealt with with recomandations from the Supreme Court; it will also be able to make decisions regarding the security of nations allied in the UNA; the Council will have its own Force which will handle all matters that threaten the security of allied nations.

''Elections for the National Security Council, Supreme Council, and the UNA EC will be held in two hours after we have taken the needed break.''

Silence didn't settle in after Naruto had spoken as another leader rose from his seat. ''While the UNA governs the treaties villages sign, and maintains healthy relations outside the borders of the nations, but we hardly have any influence in the UN. It is correct that some of us don't take part in many of the UN's activities, but shutting us out isn't going to do it. I understand that the UN only follows through its charter, which we have all agreed upon that it is fair.

I understand your desire to keep things in the way that they are at this time, but we must also be involved, those of us who wish to anyway. I cannot disagree nor complain with the current leadership and activities of the UN: it hasn't done anything unlawful and has helped in making our world a better place. However, the UNA plays little part in all that.

I suggest that members of the UNA form their own charter, or constitution if you like. If the UNA creates its own charter, it will be able to stand on the same footing as the UN. Just as the UN can get involved in our discussions, we must also be allowed to oppose some decisions of the UN, should we not like them.''

A few nods welcomed the suggestion as Kirihaha stood up, ''I second the motion. The Supreme Council doesn't offer console in our lack of influence over the UN. The Council's mandate isn't to dicuss matters regarding the UN, and the UNA, that is left for both organizations ECs. The council focuses on electing leadership, and of both bodies, and take control during emergencies like when war threatens to break out.''

''The UN doesn't have a problem with that. I will leave that to the UNA's EC, however, the charter must be in line with principles of the UN, and must not contradict the UN's charter.'' Naruto said after a few moments.

''The UNA must also have the authority to deal with any nation that breaks the alliance and treaties we sign. As we're the ones who make the treaties, we should also be the ones who make the punishments. The UN can only act when requested by the UNA. If you don't like our decision, you can take it up to the Supreme Court. The UN will still be the one to impose sanctions, nevertheless. They will just be based on the UNA's judgement.''

More ideas were thrown into the fray, so much that Naruto was forced to stop them. ''The ideas you're are throwing right now should be put into wring. Then when you have decided to draw your charter, you will vote on whether to include them or not. However, we of the UN must also be present to reject anything that is against our charter. Should you have complains about that, you can take it up to the Supreme Court.''

With that agreed upon, the break was taken.

A day later

Everything was completed, and the next sitting would be for forming the UNA's charter. As it appeared, the UN and the A would be two different bodies, but that didn't worry Naruto as it would offer seperation of duties. He could focus on maintaning balance and trying to bring all nations under one umbrella while the UNA sweetened things by organizing treaties.

As Naruto leaned against the back of his chair, the door swung open as Miyuki walked into the office along with Subaku no Gaara and his sister. The leadership of the Wind country had descended down to speak to him.

Pleasantries were exchanged before Gaara asked a curious question, something which was bothering him. ''You said you would deal with the Akatsuki problem and make it disappear, how did you do it, Naruto? That old man seemed hell bent on your removal as President.''

Naruto smiled, ''Well...''

Flashback

''President Namikaze,'' old man Tamara said as Naruto walked into his office. ''What do I owe this pleasant visit?'' He had been expecting the blond to come to him sooner or later given all the movements he has been making, against the blond of course.

''I'm distressed by actions of some people. I fear that someone is trying to destroy the work I founded and attempting to turn my friends against me,'' Naruto said with an impassive look on his face.

''Anyone would be distressed if someone was trying to destroy the very things they struggled to create. What does this have to do with me, though? I understand your feelings...'' the old man said in a quiet tone.

Naruto considered his words for a few moments before speaking, ''I understand that you have some information aimed at discrediting me. You have aproached my biggest allies about it, so there is no denying it.''

The old man regarded the blond for a few moments trying to figure out just what kind of a game he may try to play. When he couldn't figure out anything, he chose to play it safe, ''What of it then?''

''I was planning on allowing you to make your knowledge public to other UNA members, but I have decided that I can't allow the news to come out, not yet anyway. While I'm not concerned about how it may affect my image, it will horribly effect Konan's in a negative way.''

''Allow? You make it sound like you have a choice in it, President.''

Naruto smiled as he responded, ''That is because I do have a say in the matter. If I don't want you to say it, you won't. Just who do you think I am, Tamara-san? The UN was built on my work, I created it, and it is now what it is because of me. Do you think anyone can oust me? You can buy a few votes, but no one can beat me in a vote. If I so will, I can be president till death.''

''Big words, but can your allies stand in your favor when they learn of this little secret? Mind you, they will start thinking that there may be more secrets involved.''

''You underestimate the bond I share with my allies. You cannot descredit me. Besides, even if I do quit, who do you think will run the UN? You? Oh, Gaara. Yes, he can. However, no one can run the UN without my blessings. You have come to understand it, haven't you? I am the UN. The whole organization is in my hand, so are you.''

''I beg to differ.''

Naruto raised his index finger, ''When I took the job, I knew there would dirty works that I would have to do. That is why I created counter interligence which works really well. See, there is nothing that happens within the UN and A that I don't know, and I can manipulate all information to my liking.'' The blond paused for a moment. ''I know how this makes me look, but I don't really care. If there is a need to dirty my hands for peace then I will. However, dirtying my hands only mean I cannot lead a peaceful world. That is alright nevertheless. I had only planned on leading the world into peace.

I won't threaten you, or anyone else, I'm not that kind of person, however, I will make it impossible for you to say what you want, as long as its purpose is to descredit my authority. Konan is a very important person to me, and I don't want anything that may rob her of the little happiness she has found... This is what is going to happen...''

Flash back End

''...Let us just say I managed to convince him otherwise,'' the blond said smiling. ''Naturally, I handled things in a way that won't lead this organization to have a dark past. Anything controvesial can be afforded as it can be handled, but darkness is darkness, you can't put colors to it to beautify it.''

''What did you really do Naruto?'' Miyuki asked calmly.

''I said some other things and brought out my own 'Intel' regarding that old man's shady activies. When I told him I knew everything that happens under the Uns umbrella I meant it. Some people don't think their secrets can be found because of the efforts they put through in hiding things.'' Naruto responded. ''What do I owe this pleasant visit?''

''We have a proposal,'' Miyuki started. ''Gaara tells me that you can no longer hold the displaced because of bandits in Amegakure, and you can't take anymore in the Whirlpools as you have taken a number of them, and have already opened an orphanage. If you take anymore, Uzu will die as a village.''

''What is the proposal?''

''Sunagakure will be able to take in some people, but you have to build the 'homes' first. I will share the burden of supporting them with Miyuki.''

''Gaara would do this for free, but given your presence here, I assume there are some strings attached,'' Naruto said, looking straight at Miyuki.

''Wind lacks refined medical medical ninjas. You have the connections to help us in that area.''

''That is only a single string, and the rest?''

Miyuki merely smiled, ''Come to the Wind Capital in three night's time, 8pm sharp - and on something nice. We will discuss the other 'strings' during dinner,'' she said before leaving the office, Gaara followed her, leaving Naruto with Temari.

''Do you think he is still trying to get us hooked?''

''Uncosciously, yes,'' Temari said. She became nervous a bit, when Naruto placed a really weird smile on his lips. Her fellow blond stood up and walked to the front of his desk before twisting her chair towards him. He gently took her right hand, and went down on one knee.

''Temari, will you marry me?''

'Are you high?' That is what Temari wanted to ask, but then the door soundlessly opened, revealing the younger sand sibling standing in the door way with a rare smile on his face.

''Well, Temari?'' Gaara said.

Temari glared at her brother before looking straight at Naruto. When she realized he was still holding her hand, she snapped it back and folded both her hands across her bust. Her brother seemed happy.

Naruto mouthed, 'say yes.'

Temari gave him a look that clearly said, 'why'

Naruto offered a foxy smile that clearly told her he was up to no good.

A few weeks later

One could never really be free from work these days. With his term as president of the UN in its younger days, he could never be free. There was always something that needed his attention, something that needed to be solved, and he still had his own village, a personal life that needed time and was emotionally draining as fulfulling as it was.

Late nights in Uzu were always cold because of its watery surrounding. But Naruto had grown used to it. His body didn't even suffer that much from cold as his body constantly generated the heat to fight off the coldness. This was owed much to the Bijuu resting inside of him.

''You have given much work away, but there is still much to be done,'' Mei said, leaning against the back of her chair inside Naruto's office at the Whirlpool tower. ''Much of the work these days is owed to the UNA EC which has been going through some changes, the whole thing has been going through changes, and it requires us to go through all their work.''

''I never thought that the UNA would take such a structure though. The former EC was made of Daimyo's, Kages, and 'leaders', well it still is but they've decided to make a supreme council formed by Daimyos only. I'd suggested the EC be without Daimyo's as they can't be two councils, that do the same thing.'' Naruto said. ''They are trying to push us away from it, isn't it? The Daimyo's gave so much power to the UN by allowing its Judicial system to cover their countries. There isn't a part where we can't reach.''

''Naturally, to gain some standing ground, the leaders needed their own order and have now basically shut us out of their alliance,'' Mei added. ''Well, the two of us are still in the EC, but that means little as they've 'lessened' our impact in the UNa because of our standing in the UN.''

''It matters little,'' Naruto said. ''There are loopholes we can use to challenge things we don't like.''

''There's always that,'' Mei said. ''If things continue to be as they are, Whirpools will become the Capital of the Elemental Nations. The best Medical academy, and Fuinjutsu academy are founded here; the 'ninja' academy you have here is of high quality. Your students won't leave as Genins, but as full fledged shinobi; the younger generation will be coming here from all corners of the world to study here. Soon you're going to accomodate an academy for civilians - administrators, funds managers need to be trained for the UN. The main HQ of the UN are located here.

Naturally, this attracts people to come here. The fact that Daimyo's will be coming here regularly for their meetings as Uzu has become the new neutral nation, replacing the Iron country, means that it gets more visits, and opens doors for business opportunities. While it may not have lot of people, because of its location, security, importance to all nations, it makes it a prime enviroment to build HQ's for your business.''

''Yes, Miyuki once said it may not become like a village anymore, more like a business, and educational hub. When those people heard that we were going to have an academy solely for Medical Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu, they were quick to have registration open so that they can add more of the younger ones.''

''How is that going by the way?''

''Many nations are going to be disappointed: we have at least 20 nations in the UNA who outside of the Elemental Nations, and each is trying to send a group of young and old to the village so that they can be trained. For nations outside the Elemental Nations, it is understandable as this represents a good chance for their forces to be trained in the same way as others, making them comparable to that of other strong nations,'' Naruto said. ''Well, enough about work. When are you going to leave?''

''In a day or two? What, do you have something planned?''

''Myabe,'' Naruto said. ''Gaara leaves tomorrow at noon, so there's going to be some time to fool around, why not use it?''

''Hmm,'' Mei folded her hands across her bust, ''I'm only going to be a participant if what you have planned is fun. Will you tell me?''

''You're going to love it,'' but then he frowned. ''Will tell you later, it seems we have company.'' Jiyaiya walked into the office, along with Kakashi, Shizune and Gaara.

''I hope we're not interupting anything,'' the Sannin said with a knowing smile.

''Can you be more purposeful than this, Jiraiya?'' Naruto responded with a sigh. ''What do I owe for this pleasant visit? I thought all of you would be resting by now from all the days' work.''

''Kazekage-sama will be leaving tomorrow; I'm also taking a three week long time out as we have closed the academy for the quaterly holidays; Mei-sama won't be staying here for too long. You also have plans to leave for the Hotsprings for a 'few weeks'. That will only leave Jiraiya-sama and Commander-sama,'' Shizune said.

''Commander-sama?''

''That is what they call Kakashi in the Police Force,'' Jiraiya said with a smile. ''It annoys the hell out of him though. He doesn't have to hear more of it these days since he no longer spends much time in the field though.'' The Sannin finished in thought before he shrugged.

''I'm thinking of retiring,'' Kakashi said carelessly. ''I've worked a lot in the past months, more than anything since I left Anbu years ago. It is time I also quit the Police Force and return it to Kazekage-sama. Since everyone is thinking of resting, I also need to rest.''

''I can't take the position back Commander,'' Gaara said blankly. ''I have a village to run, and other things to look at...''

''You mean the lovely Princess?'' Jiraiya said with a grin. ''Naruto, you have to fix me up with one of her sisters. I would prefer the younger one though...''

''In your dreams, Jiraiya. When are they due to the village anyway?'' Naruto asked the Kazekage.

''They were due a few days ago, but the 'husbands' aren't willing to let go. You'll have to fetch them yourself,'' Gaara said.

Naruto sighed, ''I will deal with it before I head to the Hotsprings,'' he said. ''Since we're going to be seperated for a while, I know a good place to relax while you get drunk and stare at young girls, Jiraiya. You'll probably get arrested at the end of the night for harrassment though.''

''It will be worth it,'' Jiraiya said with a shrug. He knew the place Naruto was talking about. He was never allowed to go there since the last time he was there things didn't end well. But with the company he was with now, and Naruto's smile, he would be allowed.

Academy, a month later

''Shinobi are often associated with lack of morals and continued bloodshed. In a world the UN is trying to create, we cannot have such occuring. Death shouldn't be something of ordinary in our world. To lose someone is painful, and death shouldn't be taken lightly. Shinobi often kill in their missions as killing is part of the job. I have killed, and I know what it is like, what it feels like.

You're all innocent children before my eyes, before the law. Some of you were genins before being admitted to the academy: you were told carrying a headband means being an adult, but once you came here, we stripped you of that adulthood. You're all kids, and you will be treated as such, unless you wish to grow. But to be treated as an adult, you have to show maturity, not by a headband, but by your attitude.

The Police Force represent a new world order: yes, they were shinobi, but they no longer live as shinobi anymore. They have thrown away the mask of shinobi and worn a new mask of the police, soliders of justice. As soldiers of justice, you're supposed to have these essentials: morals, disclipline and a good sense of what is right and wrong, a love for justice, and a strong desire to do that is good in freeing our world from its shackles. The shinobi mind has to be taken off.

As members of the Police Force, you will not be forced to kill, carry weapons of destruction and use your jutsus to harm other people. The Ninjutsu that we will teach you will be used to build, not as weapons of destruction, not as jutsus to bring you fame. You will not be fighting for fame, or glory, but for justice... Because the Police Force are men and women of justice!''

Naruto took a moment to pause as he allowed his fresh students to absorb all that he'd said to them. This was one of the courses he taught in the academy: introduction to UNPF. He also taught Law - which was broken into three parts which were all taught according to levels, Taijutsu, Basic Fuinjutsu, and advanced fuinjutsu to those who showed deeper understanding of the art.

''Is there anyone with a question before, I can continue?'' A hand was quickly raised, Naruto allowed for the questioned to be asked.

''It isn't exactly a question,'' the girl started, ''But sensei, can you tell the distinctive difference between shinobi and police. Not all shinobi are bad people after all.''

''Admittedly, some shinobi possess high levels of humility, dignity, and morals. That is a fact that cannot be ignored, nor can we say because most of the shinobi lack morals, then all shinobi are evil. Nonetheless, the problem isn't whether shinobi are bad or not, it is the kind of world we live in, the problem is the shinobi rule and world.

As a shinobi, your main objective is to protect your home village, against everything, even family. Shinobi betray each other, kill for fame and money. However, there are shinobi who are good and will never betray anyone.

The distinctive difference between Police and Shinobi is the mindset and reaction as well as application. Whether you're good or bad, when you see an enemy, you take out your weapon, prepare a strategy and ready your ninjutsu. Even when you're a good person, if you're fighting with a kunai, it will eventually kill someone. What is the reason for shooting an S-rank jutsu at your opponent it it isn't to kill? Why swing your sword when you don't want to kill anyone? Do you expect your opponent do dodge your swing or jutsu? What if he doesn't? Then it is death.

When police see a suspect, the first reaction is engaging the person in a diolgue, reminding him of the crimes he's commited and laws broken. What happens when the suspect throws a jutsu? Swings a sword at the police? Then one takes out a shield while another or more prepare the seal of restraint. Or engage the suspect in a Police Style Taijutsu. Our main objective when the suspect is in the clear is to restrain him or her.

What if the suspect is too powerful for the police and they can't restrain him? Before that scenario even occurs, you must know this: the police force will never pursue a suspect without knowing what he/she is capable of. When the capabilities are taken into account, the squad that will be sent will be the one strong enough to deal with the suspect's power. To put it simply, should the suspect be an A-rank criminal, we send a squad of three A-rank Policeman, led by an S-rank or just another A-rank. That rules out the situation where the suspect will be too powerful for the police force. However, should back up be required, a call can made, and in less then a minute, back up will be brought, no matter the location.''

''How?'' Another student asked.

''You'll have to be in the Police Force to know that,'' Naruto said with a smile. An alarm rang, ''Oh, well, that is the end of the period. I will see you in an hour for Introduction to Law.''

As the students hurried out of the class, heading for Shizune's lessons, Naruto settled back to the edge of his desk. He really needed someone to fill in up in all these. He couldn't keep the academy running by himself. The only reason he even taught the subjects he taught was because there wasn't anyone who understood the UN's law and the functions of the Police Force better than him.

From next week, he would have to do with clones, and hire some teachers. He'd already completed the teacher's manual for all modules he taught. Even if one didn't have a better understanding of the law than him, they could teach using the manuals and guides provided for them. The manuals were all still in notes form though. He would have to get his clones to put them together and send them for print out. Each student was also to have a copy of the UN's consititution: the police force already had it.

''Sensei,'' A very Hyuuga Hanabi started, as she walked into his class, Konohamaru behind her.

''Where are the others?''

''Held up in Takada-sensei's training ground. Since we're advanced in that level, he freed us and said he wanted to keep on training the others to make them ready, physically.'' Hanabi responded.

Naruto became thoughtful for a few moments, ''I will have to form another schedule and hire a Heamaster for the academy for these kind of things.'' He needed to release some of the work he did.

''What are we going to do today, Ni-san?'' Konohamaru asked, a bit excitedly.

''Hunting.''

''Hunting?'' Both Konohamaru and Hanabi repeated in question.

''We are going to the forest, and you will catch a very nasty animal, without killing it. That isn't to say it won't try to kill you.''

''What kind of animal are talking about?'' Hanabi didn't feel comfortable with how he had said nasty animal. There were some serious wild animals in the forest surrounding the village. Probably filled in when no human was inhabitting the island. ''And why an animal?''

''Its practise runs for when you're admitted to the ranks of the Police Force. And we can't exactly send civilian farmers to the other side of the island while the forest is filled with things that will probably eat them...''

''Why don't you just create a wall around the forest?'' That seemed the easiest option.

''We need to reduce the numbers first. If we just fence them, we will reduce the hunting ground. So to accormodate the space reduction, we will have to reduce the animals, besides, the animals we're going to hunt are the ones needed for your meat. Do you think I have the money to buy all the students meat everyday? As well as pay for your caretakers?''

''Ah, so the cheap method is to hunt food for yourself. Do you go fishing as well?'' Hanabi asked.

Iwagakure

''I was really surprised when you sent a message to me. I hadn't thought that you would be willing to talk to me so soon given your differences with me,'' Naruto said as he sat down in front of Kurotsuchi's desk.

The message had come to him a few days ago, but his responsibilities didn't permit him to come earlier or quickly after the message requesting his presence in Iwagakure arrived. Nevertheless, he was here at this day. Naruto wasn' t afraid that it may have been a planned ambush that the woman had set up when she called him. If you wanted to talk to someone, you called them and went to them wasn't it? But he understood that the woman couldn't afford to leave the village in such a nervy state - her presence was required at all times.

Another reason that made him think once about honoring Kurotsuchi's call was that the woman had kept true to her word and had removed him from Iwa's Bingo book, which had pleased him greatly. The previous matter that had seen him come all the way to this village had been solved as well.

Kurotsuchi glanced in all corners of her office, trying to see if someone was eavesdropping, but found nothing; her gaze went straight to the blond before her. Conversations with him were always taxing. Felt like each diologue and monologue that went on between was a heavy right hook and a chop to her shoulder joints. The will and desire to see through out fuelled her inner strength to get this done.

Before her voice sounded within Naruto's ears, the conversations she had with her grandfather sounded like an echo at the back of her head. There were so many cases that he had spoken to her about being calm and rational, thinking of what was best for the village. He wasn't here anymore. She couldn't tease him anymore about his age and back pain problems. That stubborn senile look was forever gone, and she had remained, sitting on the very chair his little behind took comfort.

She wasn't just the granddaughter of the Sandaime Tsuchikage, she was the Yondaime Tsuchikage, fourth leader of the Village Hidden in rocks, one of the Great Five Nations. The standing meant little these days though. What mattered was being a member of the United Nations Alliance, but Kurotsuchi wasn't planning on joining of those anytime soon.

''Before the whole Amegakure incident, my grandfather was against the idea of revenge against your father's actions during the Third Shinobi World War. I didn't understand back then. But my grandfather said the Yondaime Hokage couldn't be blamed because it was war after all. 'In battle, it is either both sides will lose something or the winner wins all and the loser loses all' He would always say something like that to me.

I didn't understand, I didn't want to understand. Things didn't better when you killed my men.

You said the fate of my men was my responsibility, but I refused to accept responsibility for their deaths, blamed you for it, ergo, forsaking my responsibility as the one brought them out to the battlefield: they were just soldiers following orders. My grandfather and I were responsible for their deaths, but neither of us wanted to accept it.''

People change... For the best or worst: this is a fact that Naruto has had to accept in his life. The notion that people can change in their mindset is what led to the belief that the shinobi world could be changed: people made the world, and if people could change, the world had to change as well. Naturally, there were those people who seemed like they would never change, but one had to hope.

Kurotsuchi wasn't stupid, nor was she blind, he had known her the momoent he studied her. Her grandfather had made her front runner to succeed him as Tsuchikage for a reason.

''Death isn't easy to accept, Kurotsuchi. When your men die, you find it hard to accept it. If you had accepted responsibility, it would mean seeing no crime in me. But you didn't want that; you wanted to blame me, you want to hate me. The incident renewed you resolve to seeing me dead. You had your own reasons, but you must have realized it, didn't you? When you focused on me, you neglected the fact you didn't lose a family member, a friend, but other people did...''

The Fourth Rock Shadow nodded slowly. ''I rallied behind them in support for your death, but I failed to at least try to understand that they were pained much more than I was - they had lost their loved ones, and I had only lost my army. There's a big difference there. I can always replace an army, but you can't replace a husband, a wife, child, or a sibling. You can't.''

''The main thing is that we see the way. If you hadn't realized the truth, you wouldn't have called me here. It does little for the pain in the heart, nor does it fill the gap, but it means much more for you as leader.''

Kurostuchi's black eyes stared at the opposite blue: he was being less rude to her than he usually was, no insults, but only gentle words and a smile that almost comforted her. She refused to take comfort from him nonetheless.

''It does,'' she agreed with his point. Rushing back at the back of her mind for a quick glance on what was going on, Kurotsuchi settled for a few moments of a soundless silence before spoke again. ''I called you here because I wanted you to know that I understand: I would have done the same thing as you did. However, that doesn't mean that I forgive you, but I understand. The understanding makes it tolerable for me to stand your presence without any bloody images. I don't us to be enimies, but not friends either.''

''I can accept that, Kurotsuchi.'' Naruto said with a smile.

The END


End file.
